A Freedom Fighter's Story
by RomanticCreator
Summary: "It was a very, very rainy night, the water coming in large, heavy drops. I didn't mind. I grew to love the rain and the water, even if I wasn't affiliated with a Water Tribe in any way. I sat on the edge of a small stream and let my feet dangle in the water, letting the coolness wash all over me. And that's when I felt him approaching. Jet."
1. Half Fire Nation, Half Earth Kingdom

**A/N:**

**(Bold= Whose POV it is)**

**Okay, so this is my first A:TLA fanfic. Please no flames. They reduce my self-esteem O.o Nonetheless, please R&R and ENJOY! **

**I'd just like to let you all know that the cover page is a picture of Raina :) and was done by yours truly ^_^ **

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**Raina**

"Hatomi," my mother called to me. "Your father is getting ready for his raid. Come say goodbye."

I sighed. "No," I replied simply. "Why is he going to raid that village, anyway?"

It was my mother's turn to sigh. "Your father is under strict orders from the Fire Lord," she told me.

"Fine," I said. "But I still don't understand why-"

"Neither do I, Hatomi," she said. "But I know that I cannot do anything about it."

"But he's going to raid an _Earth Kingdom _village!" I shouted. "Those are _your _people! How can you say you can't do anything? Maybe you're not a bender, but you should at least try and talk to him. I may only be twelve, but I'm smart enough to know when to do something."

"Hatomi-"

"How did you and he even fall in love?" I interrupted. "I thought it was _horribly_ forbidden for an Earth Kingdom princess and a Fire Nation general to marry." Maybe I over-exaggerated the word "princess".

My mother wasn't a princess. But she wasn't far from it. She was born into one of the richest Earth Kingdom families in Ba Sing Se, the Earth Kingdom capital. She had everything right at her fingertips, but then she met my father. A firebender. And she ran off with him, followed him on all of his raids on different villages in an attempt to conquer each one of them. And somewhere along the way, she had me. Her half-Earth Kingdom, half-Fire Nation, non-bending daughter.

My mother sighed. "Perhaps you're right," she said quietly. "I'll go talk to him."

I immediately regretted screaming all those things at her. I put my head down as I felt my face begin to redden. "Good," I said. "He'll listen to you."

"Perhaps." And she walked out, her green satin Earth Kingdom robe flowing behind her.

I had no intentions of going to my father to say goodbye, like she had told me to. So instead, I strolled from my room and into the forest. It was beautiful, really. The trees were a nice red color, even though it wasn't even fall yet, and the grass felt soft beneath my bare feet. I fluffed out my pale green dress, similar to my mother's, and tiptoed through the trees.

Seeing all the low hanging branches, I jumped up and quickly hauled myself on to one. I began to climb, nimbly making my way up to the very top of the tree. From this altitude, I could see everything, the entire make-shift camp. I looked around and saw my mother slipping in to my father's tent. _Good, _I thought. _She's going to ask him to stop these raids. _But when she came out again with a displeased look on her face, I knew that she had been unsuccessful. I scaled my way back down the tree and raced toward her, tripping over my dress on my way there.

"What happened?" I gasped, trying to catch my breath and hiking my dress up to my knees, so as to not trip over it as I walked the last few steps toward her.

"Hatomi, put your dress down," she scolded. "It's un-ladylike." I groaned, stuck my tongue out, and threw my dress back down. "And, unfortunately, your father and I don't quite see eye-to-eye on this subject."

"So he's still going to do it?" I asked.

Before she could reply, I heard a deafening roar come from behind me. I whipped around and saw my father, along with about thirty of his soldiers, mounting his horrible lizard-like creature that he owned, which was identical to all the others. I turned on my mother, my eyebrows scrunching together as they always did when I was angry. But I quickly shook my head, reminding myself that she did try. She failed, but she tried.

I started toward my father. I was ready to tell him exactly what I thought of him and his raids, but my mother stopped me. "Stay here, in the camp," she told me. She kissed my forehead. "I'll be back." The lizard creatures bolted into the trees, carrying my father and his soldiers. My mother nodded to me once, then turned, and swiftly darted after them, her long brown hair trailing after her.

I considered staying in the camp, like she had told me to. But only for a moment. I had a habit of never obeying any rules. My mother had always told me that that was the one thing I inherited from my father. Well, that, and my "porcelain" skin tone, as she had described it. Everything else, I'm told, I inherited from my mother. My eye color especially. Green. Bright green.

I shrugged, considered the idea of staying in camp once more, then, mind made up, I darted into the trees, keeping track of where my mother's small footprints were leading me.

I soon came to the small, old looking Earth Kingdom village. And I saw that my father and his soldiers had already started in on it, blasting fire from their fists onto the less than stable looking village houses. He laughed maniacally as he watched them burn down. He ordered his soldiers to continue the assault. I actually noticed one person, who looked like a young boy carrying a bow, run into the trees. _How, _I wondered, _does my father find that funny? Tearing families apart is not funny. _I shook my head and dared to move closer to the flaming village. I could literally almost touch the fire. _Too bad I'm not a firebender, _I thought. _Maybe I could have saved some people. _

"Kasai!" I heard my mother's demanding voice sound from beside me. I turned my head to the left and quickly ducked behind the thick shrubbery to conceal myself from my quarreling parents. "I asked you not to do this. I thought you understood that."

"I have a duty, Shima," my father said sternly. He always sounded like he didn't care what she said or thought. Sometimes he sounded like he didn't even like her, let alone love her. "And this is it. You know what will happen is I don't fulfill my duties."

"You'll lose your job," my mother sneered. "Big deal! You can find another job."

"You don't understand," he snapped at her. "I have to do this."

"No, you don't!" she shouted at him. "You have the power to stop all this! Think about the families that you're ruining. How would you feel if someone tore apart our family? How would you feel if someone took Hatomi, or even killed her?" I flinched at this part. How _would _he feel if someone killed me? Would he even care? I doubted it. I looked back at my mother, and could faintly see small tears forming in her eyes. "Please, stop this!"

"Shima, be silent!" my father roared, flames starting to form around his fists. "I don't have any time to worry about 'tearing apart families'! The Fire Lord ordered this! And it's my job to do it. Go back to the camp. Now!"

"How can I..." she asked quietly, "...when you haven't answered my questions?" She raised her head and locked her green gaze on my father's amber gaze. "How would you feel if someone killed Hatomi? Kasai, how would you feel?" My father looked away and shut his eyes tightly. He did not answer, and the flames around his fists were growing larger. "Kasai, how would you feel if someone killed _me_? Would you even care?"

I wanted to know the answer to that question as well. But I realized that the answer, unfortunately, was no. I watched, frozen in place, as orange fire erupted from my father's hands and engulfed my mother's slim body. She dropped to the ground with a sickening death cry, and then, she was still. I screamed, but realizing that this wasn't a good idea, I slapped my hand over my mouth. Thankfully, my father didn't hear it.

"The answer to that, my dear Shima," he hissed to my mother's unmoving, lifeless body, "is no." He stood up, rolled his shoulders back, and walked away, as if nothing ever happened, pretending like he didn't just kill his own wife.

Involuntarily, I shrunk further down into the foliage, causing the leaves to rustle as my father was walking by. He stopped dead in his tracks, and stalked toward the bushes I was in. I gasped, and clumsily scrambled through the bushes, as far away from that monster I used to call my father as possible. When the bushes ceased to exist, I got to my feet, and dashed through the tall trees, hoping that he wasn't pursuing me. I ran for what seemed like an eternity, until I decided to climb into the trees, where I would be safer. Once I was perched on the highest branch that would support my weight, I laid my head against the trunk and sighed. That's when the tears came.

My mother was dead. No, she wasn't dead. She was murdered. By her own husband. My father. I shook my head in frustration. This man was not my father anymore. I didn't want to call him anything that tied him to me in any way anymore. No. Now, this man, this murderer, would be referred to in my mind as only Kasai of the Fire Nation.

I realized another thing. I was no longer half-Fire Nation. I now considered myself as one-hundred percent Earth Kingdom. I had completely disowned Kasai. He was not my father. He was just a firebender. A firebender who killed my mother out of cold blood.

I sighed again and rolled on to my side. _Where am I supposed to go now? _

Over the next few days- maybe it was weeks- I spent most of my time walking to nowhere and looking for anything edible. I didn't have much trouble surviving in the forest alone, since it was where I spent most of my time anyway. I didn't have much trouble with animals either, although sometimes I would find some of them trying to take my food.

I had lost quite a bit of weight due to lack of nutrition, but, surprisingly, my natural acrobat skills had not faltered in any way. And I didn't mind the slim curves the malnutrition had given me. Every day, I continued to climb and leap from tree to tree, enjoying the adrenaline that rushed through my body with every jump.

I became extremely lonely, and there wasn't a day that went by that I didn't cry or mourn for my mother. But I pushed myself to move on. And I always managed to convince myself that I would one day be able to avenge my mother. I didn't know how, considering I was not a bender of any kind. My father had trained me in hand to hand combat and a bit of sword fighting, yes, but I was still no match for a firebending master. I had a vivid imagination, though. And in some of my daydreams, I would imagine myself running Kasai through with a sword repeatedly, purely for my enjoyment.

I estimated I had been alone for about a month and a half. Maybe longer. I wasn't sure exactly how long it had been, but I knew that my birthday had past. I wasn't twelve anymore, I was thirteen. But, needless to say, I wasn't in the mood to do anything about it. A few more days passed, and I started to feel like I was doomed to be a loner forever. But then, everything changed.

It was a very, very rainy night, the water coming in large, heavy drops. I didn't mind. I grew to love the rain and the water, even if I wasn't affiliated with a Water Tribe in any way. I sat on the edge of a small stream and let my feet dangle in the water, letting the coolness wash all over me. I lifted my head to the sky and let the rain pour on my face and my dirty clothes and hair. I stared at the moon through my blurred vision. And that's when I felt him approaching. Jet.


	2. Meeting Jet

**A/N: **

**(Bold= Whose POV it is)**

**So, this is basically the beginning of Jet and Raina's(formerly Hatomi) relationship. R&R**

**WARNING: Some of the chapters are VERY long, while some of them are shorter. It all depends on whose POV it is and what type of situation they're in. The reason I like changing POVs is because you get more of what another character might be thinking at a certain time. And, sometimes, I only want very small yet crucial commentary from a character. Just be patient with me. :)**

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**Jet **

I was walking in the rain- very heavy rain-, looking for nothing in particular, when I saw her. A young girl, maybe a year or two years younger than me, sitting on the edge of the stream, dangling her feet in the water. At first, I thought she was Fire Nation. But then, I noticed what she was wearing. Green. A clear symbol of the Earth Kingdom. She was a friend. Well, sort of. She certainly looked like an Earth Kingdom girl; she had long brown hair and those symbolic bright green eyes. Everything about her was Earth Kingdom. Except her skin. It was pale and perfect. _Fire Nation_, I thought. Unable to wonder whether she was Earth Kingdom or Fire Nation any longer, I approached her. Her green eyes were on me instantly.

Startled, she kicked her feet out of the water, and hopped into the nearest tree. I tried to locate her, but was unsuccessful, as she had either climbed to the highest branch of the tree, or was just extremely well camouflaged. "Wait!" I called to her. The only response I received was a small rustle of leaves. "I'm not going to hurt you."

Suddenly, I felt her weight drop down on my back and pin my arms to the ground. _Why didn't I bring my swords with me? You're such an idiot! _I chided myself before I heard the girl speak.

"Like you could if you tried," she hissed into my ear. And to my surprise, she let me up. I scrambled to my feet and stood in front of her, and I couldn't help noticing how slim she was. Maybe it was natural. Maybe it was because she hadn't been eating properly. Either way, I looked her up and down, and then offered my hand. "I'm Jet," I told her. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion, but she eventually took my hand. She didn't give her name, though.

"You got a name?" I pressed.

"Of course I do," she snapped. She seemed tough, but the bags under her eyes and the bruises on her arms betrayed her seemingly unbreakable air. "It's Ha-" She was cut off by a loud clap of thunder, which made her jump into me. Her cheeks turned pink as she shoved herself away from me.

I grinned. "Nice to meet you, Ha," I said. She smirked at me, but didn't snap anything back, so I figured that was a good start. I leaned smoothly up against a tree. "You're a little young to be out on your own, aren't you?"

"You don't look much older than me," she said back with an edge in her voice, her eyes wandering all over my body.

"You're probably right," I shrugged. "How old are you?"

"How old are _you_?" She crossed her arms and cocked her hip.

"Only fourteen," I answered.

Her eyes widened to their natural roundness as she told me, "Only thirteen."

"Nice age to be," I said. "I remember when I was that age."

"What, you mean last month?" she said sarcastically, grinning and rolling her eyes. "Yeah, those must have been the days."

I laughed to myself. "You're alright," I told her. I walked toward her and circled her like a wild bear-dog circles its prey. "Now..." I put my hand thoughtfully to my chin. "About that name of yours..."

"Don't worry about it," she said. "I hate my name anyway."

"Fine," I said. I lifted my head to the sky, blinking rapidly to keep the rain from dripping into my eyes. "What are you doing out in the rain, Ha?"

"What does it matter to you?" she snapped. But she closed her eyes after a moment and sighed. "I ran away from my father."

I nodded. "I can see that you've been hurt by the Fire Nation," I told her.

Her eyes widened. "How-" she began.

"Because I can sense it," I told her. "I can sense the way you feel about firebenders and the Fire Nation. That's something we have in common."

"My father is a firebender," she admitted. "…and he murdered my mother. She was from the Earth Kingdom. A non-bender."

"I see," I said thoughtfully. _You look a bit like someone from the Fire Nation, _I added to myself. "Listen, I have a group of friends who feel the exact same way about the Fire Nation as you do."

"They hate them?" she asked flatly.

"Well, yeah," I told her. "And sometimes, when there's a Fire Nation camp nearby, we raid 'em." Her eyes widened with interest at this and she smiled. "You've already proven that you're strong and fast enough." I rubbed my arm that she slammed against the ground when she attacked me. "You wanna come with us on our next raid?"

She hesitated. "So..." She put her hand on her chin. "You're a group of guys, living with no rules, no one to tell you what to do...and you fight Fire Nation soldiers?" I nodded and grinned devilishly. "Alright. I'm in."

I nodded in approval. "Good." I took her by the hand. "Come on." I grinned to myself, thinking about how I had teased her about her unknown name. _What are you doing out in the rain, Ha?_ She probably hated me for that. Suddenly, I had an idea. I smiled ear to ear and looked down at the girl. _I have a name for you. _"Raina."

She looked at me, her eyebrows lowered in confusion, then, she grinned, and nodded, seeming to understand what I meant.


	3. I'm Raina now, and I have a Home

**A/N:**

**(Bold= Whose POV it is)**

**I apologize for the shortness, but like I said, some will be short, and some will be long. :)**

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**Raina **

_I'm Raina now. _I smiled at the thought of leaving my horrible Fire Nation picked name behind. And it was all thanks to Jet.

I followed him through a series of trees and undergrowth until we came to a small clearing. I looked around expectantly, but saw nothing. I heard Jet laugh. "Here." He pulled me closer to him, to the point where my hands were resting on his chest. I felt my cheeks redden and Jet grinned. Even if he was only fourteen, he was still quite the charmer.

Jet took hold of a piece of rope hanging down from the tree, gave it a tug, and in an instant, we were lifted off our feet and ascending into the trees. We landed on what a thought at first was a branch. But as I examined my surroundings, I realized that it wasn't a branch under my feet. It was a bridge. And extending out from that bridge was more bridges, all leading to different tents and huts.

"What is this?" I asked him.

"Our hideout," he replied simply. "Like it?"

"I...love it," I admitted. "Did _you _make all this?"

"Well, I had some help." I felt my face redden once again and I impatiently looked away.

"So...this is where you all live?" I asked, getting off the topic of how the hideout was built.

"Pretty much," he answered. "Most of us never really had a home. But now, with this, we do."

"It's amazing here," I breathed, moving closer to the edge of the bridge to get a better view of everything.

"It's your home too, you know." Jet put his hand on my shoulder. "Come on. I'll show you where you'll be staying." He took my hand again and led me down a very narrow pathway until we came to another rope. He took it, tugged, and it began to lift him up. "Aren't you coming?" I grinned and jumped up. His arm closed around my waist immediately.

Apparently, I was to have my own personal hut. I stepped inside. There was a hammock hanging from the ceiling of the hut, and a mattress underneath. I grinned.

"I assume you'll take the hammock," Jet said. I nodded. "You'll be on your own until we find some new recruits, which I'll be doing again tomorrow. Care to join me?"

I turned to face the brown haired boy and smiled. "I'd love to," I told him.

"Great," he grinned. "I'll come get you in the morning."

"Wait," I called. "What about the rest of your friends? When are you going to tell them about me?"

"Tomorrow morning, when we're all eating." He smiled one last time and left.

I felt my cheeks flush again. I easily hopped into the hammock hanging from the ceiling, and settled down. Then, I started to think. I started to think about how things changed so quickly. _I only met Jet today, but I was still willing to come and sleep in his hideout... Maybe I should have thought this over a bit more... _But I quickly shook my head. What other options did I have? It was either come with Jet and trust him completely to not hurt me, or stay alone in the forest, and be killed by Fire Nation soldiers, which was basically inevitable in these woods.


	4. Little Lady

**Jet**

The next morning, I made sure I woke up early. I figured that Raina would need time to get used to how we did things around the hideout. I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes as I made my way smoothly to where I left Raina last night. And as I walked, I realized, I never _did _learn her real name.

"Hey, Raina," I called into her hut. I saw her green eyes peer down at me from her hammock. She yawned, stretched, and then gracefully hopped down to the floor. "You're an acrobat?"

"Sorta," she shrugged sleepily. "I mean, it's just natural I guess. I never had a master or anything." She yawned again.

I laughed to myself. Raina was born to be one of us. "Come on," I said. "You need to meet some people before we start searching for more recruits."

"Is that all you do when you're not raiding Fire Nation camps?" she asked.

"No," I said simply. I took her hand and led her down to the lower level of our hideout, which is where we ate our meals. "This is Sneers and Pipsqueak." I saw Raina's eyes widen at the sight of the two. Sneers was a big, burly guy, but Pipsqueak was just huge. She gawked at them both and shrunk down, probably feeling miniscule compared to them.

"Who's the new recruit?" Sneers asked me gruffly.

"Her name's Raina," I told him. His eyebrows raised. "I found her last night. She's quick and skilled in_ aerial_ attacks." I looked down and winked at her. She grinned.

"She's the first _girl _we've had here," he pointed out dumbly.

"Very well spotted," I said sarcastically. "Don't be rude. She's tougher than she looks."

"She _looks _like she could use some different clothes." Raina looked down at herself and nodded.

"This _thing _isn't going to help me in any sort of jumping around I'm going to have to do," she agreed, tugging impatiently on her dress like it was biting her.

"Good thinking," I said. "You can get some when we're done here."

"Where are you off to today, Jet?" Pipsqueak asked. "Gonna show this little lady the roots?" Raina scowled at the idea of being called "little lady".

"We're hunting for recruits today," I told him.

"Great," he said, clapping his hands together. "I'll get something to eat, and then we'll go."

"Actually, I was just gonna go with Raina..." I said awkwardly, rubbing the back of my neck.

"Ouch," Sneers teased.

"You can come next time," Raina told Pipsqueak. "Unless you'd have an issue with traveling with a 'little lady' like me."

"None at all," Pipsqueak laughed. He patted her on the back, making her lose her balance. Still, she grinned back up at the giant.

"Come on, Raina." I tugged her along to our "kitchen", which was more like a little shack where we kept all the food hot. "Eat something, and then I'll take you to where you can get some different clothes."

She nodded, picked up a plate, and examined it. "What's this?" she asked suspiciously.

I took it from her and looked at it closely. "I dunno," I said indifferently. "But it's edible."

Apparently, this was good enough for her. She nodded and began eating the stuff, which was probably just meat. After she finished, I took her by the hand again and we slid down one of the ropes to the ground. "There," I said, motioning to a hole in a large tree trunk. "That's where we put all the clothes no one owns yet. You could probably find something in there."

"Thanks," she said. I watched as she vanished into the tree.


	5. Recruit

**Raina**

I wormed my way through the thin hole in the tree trunk, and was soon able to stand up. I was surprised to see just how big the hollowed out trunk was. There was enough room for three of me to fit lying down. And there seemed to be an infinite amount of clothing in there.

I ended up picking a gray sleeveless top and loose fitting brown pants. I threw off my green dress and slipped into my new outfit. I also managed to find some dark brown boots my size (which was impressive, considering how small I was compared to the others), a pair of tan fingerless gloves that would protect my palms from the rough tree bark, and dark maroon colored piece of cloth which I used to keep my long hair back.

I slipped back out of the tree trunk to Jet. He looked me up and down, then nodded. "You look exactly like one of us now," he told me. I smiled.

"So...recruit hunting, right?" I asked.

"Right," he nodded.

"Why do you need more recruits?" I asked Jet as we walked through the thick trees, searching for, obviously, recruits.

"We can never have too many," he replied.

"How many of you are there?"

"About...thirty, I'd say."

_Then why do you need more? _I managed to keep this question from rolling off my tongue.

Jet and I had been walking for what seemed like an eternity without finding anyone or anything. The forest seemed completely empty. That is, until we heard a sharp crack in front of us. "Listen, it might me a Fire Nation soldier," Jet hissed in my ear. "So, if it is, I want you to climb a tree and go back to the hideout. Don't try to be a hero."

I scowled at him. "I can take care of myself!" I retorted. "Or have you forgotten that?" He smirked at me.

"Stay," he ordered. "Here." He nodded and left, tracking down the source of the sound. Even if Jet was charming, he still could made the mistake of underestimating me. Especially my tracking skills.

"Je-" I began to call to him, to tell him that he was going to wrong way. But I stopped myself. Tracking down the sound myself would make him less likely to underestimate me again. "Hmph."

I began walking in the opposite direction that Jet headed. I pushed aside a few bushes, climbed through some trees, and then, I came to a clearing, which was a lot bigger than the one under the hideout. I scaled a tree and peered through the leaves down the clearing floor. _No one's here, _I thought. I turned to climb back down the tree, when I heard it again. The sharp crack that Jet and I had heard before, and I realized, it sounded like an arrow flying through the air and hitting a tree. I glanced around frantically, and I saw him.

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**A/N:**

**Maybe you already figured it out, but in case you didn't, I'll give you a hint about the next chapter...Longshot time. **


	6. The Archer

**A/N: **

**This is the beginning of Longshot's relationship with Raina. I have plans for them to be romantically involved, but I also have plans for her to be involved with Jet as well, as you may have noticed a little in the 2nd and 3rd chapters. PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE leave a review or send me a PM telling me who you would prefer seeing Raina be in love with, because, honestly, I have no idea who she's going to end up with myself! It might be smart to wait a little while before making your decision, though, as you might change your mind after reading more of the somewhat fluffy stuff I have planned for both soon to be "couples".**

**Raina/Longshot or Raina/Jet**

**LET ME KNOW. I'M BEGGING YOU.**

* * *

**Longshot**

I shot my fifth arrow. It lodged itself into the tree in front of me with a loud crack. I grinned with satisfaction. Suddenly, I heard the leaves in the tree next to me rustle. Startled, I quickly notched an arrow in my bow and aimed it at where the leaves rustled. I took a deep breath and let my arrow fly. A startled yelp came from the tree, and I tipped my head. A young girl, maybe my age, came flying out of the leaves, landing neatly on her feet with one hand on the ground to steady herself.

The first thing I noticed about her was how she moved. She had executed her landing beautifully. And she stood up perfectly straight, though she was not very tall. _She's an acrobat._ I stared at her, not knowing if I should run, or shoot another arrow at her, or just keep staring. I went with the last option. I realized that, despite her somewhat worn down appearance, she was actually very pretty. I kept staring at her, and she matched my gaze, staring straight back at me with her bright green eyes.

"Uh, hi," she said finally. "I'm H-" She stopped herself and sighed. "I'm Raina."

I nodded in greeting.

"That was some nice shooting," she told me after a moment of silence. "Think you could do it again?"

I nodded again and notched an arrow. I let it fly, straight into the tree fifty yards ahead. I heard the girl laugh.

"That was a long shot," she said.

I nodded once again.

She grinned. "You don't talk much, do you?" I shook my head. "I can deal with that, I guess."

"Raina!" I heard another boy's voice call to the girl. A few seconds later, a tall, athletic looking brown haired boy came bursting through the bushes. "Raina!" As soon as his gaze rested on the girl, he ran up to her and hugged her. "I thought Fire Nation got you and-" He stopped and looked at me. "Who's the kid?"

I raised her eyebrows. "Oh," Raina said. "He's...uh..."

_Oh, right, _I thought, _I didn't tell her my name. _

"He's..." Raina continued to struggle with my name, looking to me anxiously. Suddenly, I remembered what she had said to me a few minutes ago. _That was a long shot. _

"Longshot," I told the boy, almost involuntarily. Raina smiled, probably partly because I had taken the name out of something she said, and partly because she had heard me talk for the first time.

"Longshot, huh?" the boy said. "I'm Jet." I nodded once. "Not a talker, is he?"

"No," Raina admitted.

"Hmph," Jet huffed. "So, Longshot..." Jet approached cautiously, circling me and examining me up and down. "You've been hurt by the Fire Nation too?" I hesitated, then nodded briefly. "Well, what did they do?"

"You're gonna have to talk for this one," Raina said, a bit impatiently.

"They burned down my village," I said, complying to their want for my speech.


	7. Roommate

**Raina**

"They burned down my village."

I tensed. "How long ago was it?" I asked Longshot.

"About...a month? Maybe a little longer," he replied. I bit my lip to hold back the gasp that would have erupted from my mouth.

"You've been on your own for a month?" Jet asked. "So was Raina." He put his hand on my shoulder. "She was sitting out in the pouring rain when I found her."

_So that's where you got your name? _I could almost hear Longshot say it as he looked at me. I tipped my head a little.

"So, you _don't _have a home?" Jet asked. Longshot shook his head. "Well, then..." He looked at me. I nodded and smiled. "Come live with us."

Longshot's eyebrows rose. _You two _live _together? _

I grinned and laughed to myself. I shook my head. "There's a bunch of us," I told him. "Up in the trees."

Longshot gave us a suspicious look, then nodded.

Jet took the lead, while I hung back with Longshot, who was still giving Jet a few suspicious looks every now and then. "Jet's a good person," I told him. "He only found me last night, and he's already made me feel like I've been part of his group for ages." Longshot grinned. I appreciated it, even though it was probably forced.

We got back to the hideout just as the sun was ducking behind the trees. and instead of taking the rope up into the treetops, I simply jumped from branch to branch, which was a nice adrenaline rush. I reached the top just as Longshot and Jet landed on the bridge.

"This is our hideout," Jet said. Longshot nodded. I figured that probably meant, _It's nice. _"Raina." I turned my head to the brown haired boy. "Do me a favor?"

"Depends on what it is," I said, putting my hands on my hips.

"Take Longshot to the hut you're in," he told me. "Congratulations. You have a new roommate."

I felt my eyes widen. I hadn't expected to have a roommate so soon. And I hadn't expected my roommate to be a boy either. _No shame in tree houses, I guess, _I thought. I shrugged and nodded. I put my hand on Longshot's shoulder and steered him onto the bridge that led to the hut that was now mine.

"Uh, here," I said, handing him the rope that led up to the hut. He took it and shot upward and sent it back down when he landed on the platform. I took hold of it and joined him high in the treetop. "Well...this is it."

Longshot took a look around the hut and nodded. I smiled.

* * *

**A/N:**

**And now, Raina and Longshot are roommates. :) "No shame in tree houses." ;) Get it? **


	8. Immediate Liking

**Jet **

"We were lucky today. There weren't any disturbances in the forest." I stood on top of the large wooden table in the center of the lower level of our hideout, giving a speech before we ate as I always did. "Not that there have been for quite some time. Maybe the Fire Nation swine were smart enough to leave these woods." This got applause from my audience. "But I wouldn't put it past them to be stupid enough to hang around. After all, they are Fire Nation." More applause. "And since this is the case, I guess we're lucky that we have so many fighters here." I grinned to myself at this one.

"That brings me to another subject," I said loudly as the applause died down. "We were fortunate enough to acquire two more people like us in the last two days." This time, there was silence. It was rare that we brought more than one fighter in a month. "Two more who have the same burning hate for the Fire Nation as we do." There were a few gasps of anticipation. "Raina, Longshot." I beckoned to the green eyed girl and the silent boy who were sitting next to each other. They hadn't left each other's side since they found each other, given that they both were brought here at basically the same time. She hopped up next to me instantly and managed to coax Longshot up as well.

Applause broke out. Raina's face glowed with pride and happiness. I glanced at Longshot, whose face remained seemingly indifferent. I listened to the different comments coming from the crowd. "She's the first girl to ever be up here." "I hope she's not weak." "She looks a little fragile." "We shouldn't underestimate her too quickly." I tensed and cast an anxious look at Raina. She had obviously heard some of the comments, but she just shrugged, and I could almost hear her say, "Let them think what they want. I'll show them soon enough."

I was about to say something to everyone, let them know just how capable Raina was. But I didn't need to. She was already speaking. "Thanks for the welcome, Jet," she said, strong and steady. "And I'd just like to let you all know how wonderful it makes me feel that none of you have a problem with me being here." She paused, just waiting for someone to object. No one did, and I watched as a slight grin etched itself on her pale face. "But...if anyone _did _have an issue with a _girl _being among you...well, that would make me very upset. And you wouldn't want to upset a little girl like me, would you?"

I laughed to myself. She was challenging them! She was just asking for someone to step up and say something to her so she _could _show them just what she was capable of. She glanced back at me, and I could she her green eyes ablaze, hungry for a confrontation. When no one said anything or moved toward her, she cleared her throat.

"Okay," she said. "We all understand each other?" She looked around, burning her gaze into everyone's eyes individually. "Good. I'm honored to be here." She bowed, then resumed her station next to me.

_Impressive, _I thought. I nodded to her. "Eat," I said, waving my hand to the crowd and turning to leap off the table.

I put my arm around Raina's shoulder. "Nice speech," I whispered into her ear, hugging her to me.

"You too," she said.

"You were challenging them, weren't you?" I asked, arching an eyebrow.

"Isn't that what you're supposed to do?" she asked innocently. "Make your mark the first day?"

I laughed and nodded. She smiled and wandered over to Longshot. She said something to him, he gave her a quizzical look, and then, I had no idea why, but she laughed and continued talking. It was like she was talking to a statue, yet she still managed to have a full conversation with it. I shook my head and wondered if she was really saying anything to the silent boy or if she was just rambling on about nothing.

"Jet." I turned my head and saw Sneers glaring at me. "What did you do?"

"What do you mean?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I mean, who did you bring here?" he growled. "A fragile little girl, and a kid who's antisocial. Nice find, Jet."

"First of all, Raina is nowhere near fragile," I told him sternly, rubbing the spot on my arm that was still sore from Raina's attack last night. "And second of all, Longshot will come out of his shell when he wants to. Give him a break. He's only been here for a few hours, and you aren't exactly bringing out the welcome wagon for either of them."

"I'm just concerned at where this group is headed." Sneers crossed his arms. "Because if you start bringing people like _them _here, we won't be the same. We'll be a joke to the Fire Nation."

"Raina is quick and strong, and Longshot is an archer," I said simply. "I don't see what you're getting at. They'll be fine. We'll be fine. And the Fire Nation will grow to fear us." I squared off my shoulders, trying to make myself look as large as the sixteen year old.

I expected to hear a smart retort erupt from his mouth, but it didn't come. Instead, he nodded. Though he still looked skeptical, he didn't argue any further, and walked calmly away. I felt a smirk crawl across my lips. Even though Sneers was two years older than me and probably had at least fifty pounds on me, I was confident that I could beat him in any sort of fight.

I walked up behind Raina and put my hand on her shoulder. Apparently, I had scared her. She whipped around, elbowing me hard in the stomach. "Oh, sorry, Jet," she said, rubbing the back of her neck uncomfortably.

"It's fine," I said, massaging my abdomen. "I want to talk to you."

I took her by the hand and pulled her behind one of the trees. "What's up?" she asked.

"How are you holding up?"

She tipped her head. "What do you mean?"

"I mean...I know you're not dumb enough to not hear the comments about you. You know, about being a girl and all." I chose my words carefully, knowing that any slip up could lead to a punch in the face.

"Oh, those," she said. "Um, they've bugged me a bit, I guess. But, I mean, I'm here now. What are they gonna do about it?" She crossed her arms and leaned against the tree. Then she grinned. "I'll show them one day exactly what I can do."

"Good. I'm glad to hear that," I told her. She began walking back to Longshot. "Hey." I pulled her back. "About Longshot..." She stared up at me with her big green eyes. "What...How...How are you talking to him?"

"Oh," she said. "Well, I can't really explain it...but...he does this thing..." She widened her eyes and stared straight up at me. "...where he looks at you..." She put her hand on her face near her eyes. "...and you can almost hear what he's thinking." She blinked her eyes back to their normal size, which was still pretty wide. "If you spend some time with him, you'll get it. It's easy."

"He seems to like you a lot," I observed as I watched Longshot's gaze land on Raina constantly.

"We barely know each other," she snapped.

I put my hands up. "Okay, okay, I was just saying." She glared at me before moving on.

* * *

**A/N:**

**So, as you may notice, I'm currently moving along with the Raina/Longshot situation. But that could still change. ;) **

**To Morningdove14 (I would have PMed you, but you were anonymous), congrats. You're the first person to review this story. xD Anyway, thanks for your review. :) It means a lot! And thanks for you suggestion on the relationship thing. :) Also, (I'm not sure if this is what you meant or not) I'd like to say that Raina definitely won't be leaving the Freedom Fighters at all (is that what you meant?). She's there to stay. But if you meant it like "She and Jet should be out of a relationship before Katara gets there", then, yes. In that case, she will be out of Jet's romantic life. Maybe not completely, though. I'm not sure. I'm still writing. :) It will all work out. I promise. :) **


	9. Telling the Story

**Raina**

I jumped from branch to branch, tree to tree, nearing the hut that I was able to call mine. I landed cleanly on the platform outside it and pushed aside the covering that was used as a door. Longshot was already there, sharpening his arrows with a stone. I noticed that he had taken off his straw hat, and I realized that this was the time I had seen all of his hair. I grinned to myself at noticing such a minor detail.

"Hey," I said casually, sitting in front of him. He had moved the thin mattress that used to be directly under the hammock to the far side of the hut. Maybe he was afraid I was going to fall on him. Still, moving it the side of the hut did little to solve that problem, since the hut wasn't very big.

Longshot looked up, nodded in acknowledgement, and went back to sharpening his arrows. I cleared my throat. "You like it here?" I asked. He smiled and nodded. I sighed. Jet thought it was easy to talk to Longshot, but it wasn't. It was hard trying to make a decent conversation with someone who only talked when absolutely necessary. "You like...Jet?"

He looked up at me and shrugged. _I guess._

"Yeah, he can be a little cocky sometimes," I admitted. "But I feel like I owe him something, you know? Since he was the one who found me and brought me here."

Longshot smiled at me. _That's how I feel about you. _

"Why?" I asked. Then I laughed. "Think about it, if Jet hadn't found me the night before, you wouldn't be here right now. So I think the person you really owe something to is Jet."

He gave me a hardened look. _Jet thinks I'm strange, doesn't he? Because I don't talk like the rest of you. _

"No," I said. "He just doesn't understand the way you communicate yet. But he will."

There was a pause, then a slight smile. _Thanks. _

I nodded and leapt into my hammock with ease. I put my arms behind my head and stared at the ceiling. "This needs something..." I said to myself. I reached up to the ceiling. I was able to touch it. "Longshot, can I see one of your arrows?" He handed me one and I reached up and cut a square hole above my head. I threw his arrow back to him. "There."

Longshot arched an eyebrow and crossed his arms, playfully pouting. _Great, now what are we going to do when it rains? _

I raised my eyebrows. "Oh..." I lightly slapped by hand to my forehead. "Well, we can just patch it up when that does happen."

I heard him laugh as I looked up through the new hole in the ceiling. Even if it would cause trouble when it rained, it was better than having to stare at the ceiling all night. I could see everything, the leaves of the trees, the stars, the moon.

I spent about an hour staring out into the sky. I listened to Longshot sharpen his arrows, and then lay back onto his mattress. I strained my ears to listen to his breathing as it began to slow. Suddenly, I heard him sigh and shift position.

"Raina," he called softly. I peered over the edge of the hammock down at him. He was lying with one hand behind his head as he stared right back up at me. I smiled. Hearing him talk was one of the little things I had to learn to enjoy. "What happened to _your _parents?"

"Oh," I said awkwardly. I slipped out of my hammock down to the wooden floor and sat next to him. "Well, my...my father is Fire Nation." I expected him to gasp and say something like, _"So then aren't _you _Fire Nation too?"_ But he didn't. He just blinked, so I went on. "And...my mother was from the Earth Kingdom."

"Were they both benders?" Longshot asked.

"No," I answered. "My father is, but my mother wasn't." I kept cringing whenever I used the word "father". "A while back, my father went to raid an Earth Kingdom village and my mother tried to stop him. But I think she only did it because I convinced her to. Anyway, she followed him to the raid and tried to talk to him. But...he wouldn't listen and...he just...killed her."

Longshot's eyes softened. _I'm so sorry. _

I smiled. "My father is still alive. He's probably still burning down villages..." I sighed. I looked at Longshot. His eyes were still trained on me. Suddenly, I had a slight flashback of the day of my mother's death. The day that I watched the boy from the village run from the flames... "Longshot..." I breathed. "Did you have that bow with you when you escaped your village?"

He nodded.

Something in my mind snapped as the realization came into my head. My father was the one who burned down Longshot's village.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I'd just like to point out that Longshot is now the only person who knows the full story of Raina's mother's death. Hence, a somewhat crucial part to their growing relationship.**


	10. A Father's Mistake

**Longshot**

I watched Raina's expression change from despairing, to thoughtful, to horrified. I sat up and put my hand on her shoulder. I stared straight at her. _You okay? _

"Yeah..." she said slowly. She pushed her hair behind her ear. "I...I just..."

_What? _

"Nothing," she said. She glanced up and smiled at me. I realized, once again, that she was actually very pretty, despite how worn out she looked. I smiled back at her. "Actually..." She sighed and rubbed her shoulder. "I...I...Longshot, I think...I think it was...I think it was my father's raid that burned down your village..."

I felt my eyes widen as I clearly remembered that day. My mother's scream, my father's voice rising above all the others, telling me to run into the forest. I did as I was told, of course. I grabbed my bow and arrows and ran, but not before my mother told me she loved me.

I was jerked back into the present by the sound of Raina standing up and preparing to leap back into her hammock. I grabbed her arm before she could. Usually, I was the one to talk with my eyes, but this time, I could clearly see the sadness in her green eyes. _I'm so sorry, _they spoke.

I let my own gaze burn into hers. _It's alright. I'm here now. This is my home now. _

"You're not mad at me at all?" she asked quietly.

_Why would I be? _

"Because it was my father who burned down your village."

_But you weren't the one who did it._

"I know, but..." She sighed and sat back down in front of me. "It was your home."

"Raina," I said. "My home is here now." My words, plus my expression must have had a big effect, because she stayed silent. "It's alright."

She smiled slightly. I laid my hand on her shoulder. "Thanks, Longshot," she whispered. I smiled back at her. Right then, I wanted so badly take her I my arms and hold her until she was asleep. But I couldn't find the courage to.

She smiled one last time, stood up and leapt back into her hammock. She was asleep in just a few minutes, and I found myself being lulled into my own sleep by the sound of her breathing. I hoped that knowing that I forgave her for the task that wasn't even hers would put her mind at ease. But I knew, no matter what I said to her, she was going to have a hard time forgiving herself for her father's mistake.


	11. Stupid Nightmares

**Raina**

_"Mom!"_

_ "Hitomi!" _

_ "Mom!" _

_ "Kasai, please. Please, don't do this. Please!" _

_ "Mom, where are you?" _

_ I ran through the trees, pushing aside any shrubbery that was in my way. I only had one goal in mind: find my mother. I continued to run, even when sharp branches began to whip at my feet, as I called out to my mother once again. _

_ The next thing I knew, I was on the ground, entangled in a thorn bush, with the thorns poking through my clothes. I was in the clearing under the hideout. Fire Nation soldiers were all around, blasting jets of fire at the trees that were holding up the fort. They all burned to the ground, and out of the flames jumped Jet and the rest of his fighters. I struggled vainly against the thorns, wanting to help them. But the thorn held tight, and every movement only caused more pain. _

_ "Jet!" I screamed. "Jet!" The brown haired boy turned his head to me. He started toward me, but was intercepted by a wall of fire. When it ceased, he was dead. Right in front of me. I screamed and began to struggle again. _

_ Suddenly, the thorns sunk into the ground and I was able to stand. I rushed into the fighting, but it all stopped when I touched the first soldier. The rest of them sunk into the ground, just as the thorns did, until only Longshot was left. He gave me a despairing look and nodded to something behind me. I turned around, and saw my father with my mother again. _

_ "Kasai, please! Please! Don't do this!" _

_ Fire jetted out from his fists and completely engulfed my mother's body. Her screams stung my ears and I dropped to the ground and shut my eyes. When I reopened them, I saw my father, glowering over me. But he wasn't looking at me. His gaze was focused on something else. I turned my head, and saw Longshot. He gave me one last look, before he suddenlt burst into flames and slumped to the ground..._

My eyes flicked open and I gasped. I let my eyes focus on the dim lighting as I sat up. I breathed a breath of relief. I was still in my hammock in the hut of the hideout. Nothing was burning, and there were no Fire Nation soldiers. And my father was probably a whole Earth Kingdom away. I quickly peered over the edge of my hammock. Longshot was sleeping, his breathing steady and undisturbed. I smiled. He wasn't in flames.

Then, he stirred and looked up at me. _You okay? _his eyes spoke. I nodded once and hopped down from my hammock. Longshot sat up, yawned, and tipped his head to the side. _Are you sure? _I nodded again, a bit hesitantly.

"I, uh...I had a bad dream," I told him.

_About what? _

"You...uh...I dreamt that the hideout got discovered by Fire Nation soldiers and...they killed everyone." I rubbed my cheek uncomfortably.

Longshot's eyebrows raised, then lowered again. _Well, it's alright now. _

I nodded. "Still...I think I need to...JET!" I shouted as I leapt out the entrance to the hut.

I quickly made my way to what I believed to be Jet's hut; it was the biggest, and it was in the center of the hideout. I cautiously poked my head inside. "Jet?" I whispered.

He was sleeping, of course, but when I called to him, he stirred and sat up. "What?" he asked sleepily. "What is it?" He stretched. "You're a night owl, aren't you?" I grinned at him. "Well, what d'ya need?"

"Are...uh, are you _sure _that no one else knows we're here?" I asked.

"Yes," he answered simply. "Goodnight." He rolled over and started to mimic a snoring noise.

"I know you're not sleeping," I said irritably, but I couldn't keep the hint of laughter out of my tone. I walked up to him and shook him.

"Look, Raina, we're completely safe up here," he said. "Just trust me."

I sighed. "Okay," I agreed after a moment. "Night, Jet."

I headed back to mine and Longshot's hut. And the more I thought about, the more pointless it seemed that I woke Jet up just because of a dream I had had. I leaped up into the hut and climbed back into my hammock.

* * *

**A/N:**

**I think most of you can figure this out, but in case you can't, this chapter is basically a bit of foreshadowing for later events. :) No one dies, so don't worry. ;)**


	12. Underestimated

**Longshot**

"Longshot." I blinked open my eyes and rolled onto my back. Raina was standing over me, running her fingers through her hair. "Jet says we have to go down to the lower level to eat," she said as she tied her maroon cloth in her hair. I noticed a certain sadness in her tone, though she disguised it well. I tipped my head at her, but she looked away. "Come on." I slipped my shirt over my head, put my hat on, and stood up next to her. I put my hand on her shoulder before she leapt off the balcony.

"What?" she asked, a bit of an edge in her voice.

I gave her a hardened stare. _Something's wrong. _I said this as a statement, rather than a question. She smiled slightly, shook her head, and flew off the balcony before I could say anything else.

"Did you guys eat?" Jet asked us as we sat on the roof of our surprisingly stable hut. I nodded. "Good." He beckoned. Raina jumped down next to him and he took her hand. "I want you to come to a quick meeting for a second." I watched as her cheeks flushed a soft pink and she looked away hurriedly. I guessed that she had a bit of a crush on Jet. "Coming, Longshot?" I nodded and hopped down.

"Okay, first thing I want to know…" Jet put his hand to his chin thoughtfully, then planted his hand on the long wooden table we were sitting around. "Raina." _Oh, no, _I thought. _He isn't really going to single her out, is he? _I saw Raina tense across the table and her eyes hardened. "You're an acrobat."

She turned her head to him. "Yeah?" she asked, almost in a matter-of-fact way.

"And you good with aerial attacks," he continued.

"You of all people should know that," she teased, crossing her arms and grinning.

"Is that all you can do, little lady?" A larger boy, apparently called Sneers, taunted her.

Raina narrowed her eyes. "Well, what can _you _do?" she countered.

"I'm a swordsman," he answered proudly. "And I'm pretty sure swordsman beats acrobat." Raina scowled at him.

"Don't be so rude to her," Pipsqueak, whose name was extremely unfitting, spoke up. "She'll be able to match you one of these days."

"If she's not there already," Jet added.

"Alright," Sneers growled. "Is that a challenge, little lady?"

"What?" Raina jumped up from her seat. "I didn't even say that! It was them!"

"So, you're too scared to fight me. Is that it?" Sneers arched an eyebrow and I could tell Raina was just about to accept his challenge.

"I've seen butterflies scarier than you!" she retorted. "I would fight you any day!"

"No." Jet had leapt onto the table and now glowered over Sneers. He looked at Raina, then back at Sneers. And the entire time, I remained silent. "No way am I letting _any _one of you fleas touch our new recruit." I flinched at the harshness in his voice as he practically spat out the word "fleas".

"What are you doing?" Raina hissed to the brown haired boy. "If this fatso wants a fight, he can have one."

"No," Jet said again. He gently pushed Raina back into her seat. "I can't risk anyone getting hurt now." Everyone relaxed after another moment, and Jet sighed, and got off of the table. "Now…" He eyed all of us. "I want to be very clear about this. Raina is one of us now. You'll treat her with the same respect you would any of the others. Got it?" We all nodded. Not that anyone else was confronting Raina like Sneers was. "Okay." He nodded. "We all know that Raina is a formidable acrobat _and, _just take my word for it, she's extremely skilled when she has high places to use to her advantage."

I saw Raina smile at the praise Jet was giving her. But at the same time, I wondered if she was a bit Jet maybe making her sound better than she may or may not be. "So, naturally, Raina, I want you up high in the trees. Got it?" The green eyed girl nodded.

"Pipsqueak, Sneers, you'll be with me on the ground. Make sure to stay hidden until I tell you." They two nodded together. "Longshot." Jet turned his gaze to mine. I dipped my head. "You're in the trees with Raina. Stay close enough to hear each other, but stay far enough apart to cover some distance." I nodded.

Raina looked at me from across the table. She grinned. "Alright, get outta here," Jet said, shooing us all away. "Raina, I want to talk to you."

I stood up, nodded to Raina, and left with Pipsqueak and Sneers.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Sorry for the delay in updates. I lost the flash drive that I had all my writing on D: so...just be patient. **


	13. Training

**Jet**

"Raina, I want to talk to you." I watched as the rest left and Raina stalked toward me. She looked like she was ready to slap me. Or punch me.

"What?" she hissed.

"I know you're skilled and all, but I was just wondering if you wanted a little extra training, since you're going to need to use knives or something in the raid." I tried to pick my words as carefully as possible, but obviously, I failed. Raina's eyes blazed.

"I'll be fine, Jet," she told me confidently, with a sharp edge to her voice. "I know how to use knives."

"Okay, I trust you," I said, backing off a little. "But…"

"Fine," she snapped. "I'll train with you." She whipped around and stalked out, muttering curses at me as she did.

"Ready?" I asked the green eyed girl as I stood in the clearing with her. I gripped my famous hooked swords tightly in my hands. She was holding two knives, one in each hand, and her eyes might as well have been golden; they were blazing non-stop. She nodded, and I lunged at her. Just as I reached her, I saw a slight grin cross her lips before she sidestepped easily out of the way. I landed clumsily, barely keeping my footing.

"Beginner's luck," I teased.

"I'm not a beginner," she said back.

I grinned and ran at her again. I swung on her with my right sword. She managed to contort her back in such a way that she ducked out of the way just in time and quickly jumped up into a tree. _Smart girl. _I looked up into the treetops, searching for any signs of her. I saw none. Until, that is, she launched herself down at me from behind. I failed to turn around quick enough, and she landed on me. Both her hand were on my shoulders while the rest of her body was upside down, in the air. She did a sort of backflip, using my shoulders as leverage, and somehow managing to not nick me on her descent, her feet landing perfectly on the ground.

I grinned at her, and went at her again with my swords. She twisted and turned out of the way of every blow I dealt. I was merely scraping air. Raina ducked behind me, slipping right between my legs, and when I turned around, she was on the offense. She sliced her two knives through the air, consistently using her legs as a secondary weapon, lashing out at me and just barely missing my groin more than a few times.

Raina actually had me backed up against a tree before I could catch my breath. I gasped as I saw the flash of a knife blade come roaring down toward my face, and moved out of the way just in time. I quickly bent down, hooked my swords on both of the girl's ankles, and yanked her feet out from under her. She fell to the ground, stunned at first, then her eyes locked on mine. I expected to see pure fury, but instead, she laughed, and started climbing to her feet. I grinned, and took off in the other direction. I had wanted to keep the training in one area, but if she really wasn't trying to kill me, I figured, why not make it more fun?

I dashed through the trees, jumping over bushes and letting branches swing back after I passed them, in hopes that one of them might slow my quick pursuer down. They didn't, of course, but it was worth a try. Raina plunged through the forest after me, and I thought I even heard her laughing as she did. I couldn't help suppressing a laugh of my own.

I started paying more attention the trees than I should have, and in the end, that was my downfall. I reached another small clearing, and as I turned around to see if Raina was still following, she pounced on me and pinned both my arms down. Then she brought her knife up, to the point where I thought she really might kill me. I closed my eyes, but when I reopened them, I was still alive, and her knife was only lodged in the clothes on my left shoulder.

She stood up, towering over me, and grinned. She looked perfectly fine, but under closer inspection, I could tell that she was winded. "Nice fighting," she said, tugging her knife out of the ground and letting me up.

"You too," I said, rubbing the spot that her knife recently resided. "Where'd you learn all that stuff?"

"My father was one of the best Fire Nation general's in the world," she reminded me. "I picked up a few of his moves, I guess."

I laughed, then hugged loosely her with one arm around her neck and pressed my lips into her hair. "Sorry I ever underestimated you."

"You should be," she replied, not angry or upset, but just simply.


	14. A Good Person

**Raina**

Jet pressed his lips into my hair. "Sorry I ever underestimated you."

"You should be," I said, half-joking, half-not, and I felt my cheeks begin to redden as he pulled his arm off of my shoulder.

"I'm sure the guys will be surprised tomorrow," he said happily. "You'll show them just how tough you are tomorrow."

I smiled up at him. "Definitely," I replied.

Jet and I went back to the hideout stride for stride. We went up the rope together as we always did, his arm around my waist. We landed on the bridge without a sound. He smiled at me.

"I'll…see you later," I said.

"Yeah," Jet replied. I turned to go back to the hut. "Oh, and Raina…" I turned to face Jet again. "Don't let Sneers get to you. He thinks just because he's older than any of us, he can do whatever he wants." Then he laughed. "He's dead wrong, of course."

I smiled and continued to the hut I shared with Longshot. However, before I got there, I was intercepted by Sneers. "Hey, little lady," he said. I hated it how he had turned Pipsqueak's little joke into an insult. "How did you training go? Didn't get too beat up, did you?" He looked at me up and down.

"No, actually," I said, smacking his hand away when he tried to brush dirt off one of my shoulders. "I'm perfectly fine."

He shrugged. "Just making sure that our littlest member didn't get hurt." He snickered, and walked past me.

I tried to live up to what Jet had said. _Don't let Sneers get to you. _But it was hard. Unbelievably hard, because, in a way, he was right. I was the smallest, and I was a little lady. I wouldn't have phrased it that way, but it's what I was. I balled my hands into fists and stormed, away from the hut, and toward the main section of the hideout.

I went down to the lowest level, and jumped the precarious distance down to the ground. I landed on my feet, but had to put one hand on the ground to steady myself. I stood up and ran toward the stream that Jet had found me at, the only source of water I knew of at the time. Instead of coming to the stream first, I came to an entire lake. I ran my hand along a tree before slamming my head against the hard bark. _I can't wait until you see how capable I am, Sneers. _

I walked to the spot where the tree was facing the water. I buried my hands and slid my back down the rough bark until I was sitting with my knees up to my chest. I sat there for a few minutes, imagining in my head just what I would do to show Sneers and everyone else how tough I was. I also spent those few minutes mentally killing Sneers repeatedly in very creative ways.

I sighed and took my hands away from my face. I blinked a few times, adjusting to the bright light. The first thing I expected to see was water, but no. The first thing I saw was Longshot. He was standing in the water, shirtless. I tipped my head, asking, _What are you doing? _Then, I turned my head to the left, and saw the rest of his clothes sitting in the dirt.

I let out a surprised squeal as I hopped to my feet. Longshot looked bewildered. He grinned and arched an eyebrow.

_ What's wrong? _

"Uh, maybe, you're _naked_!" I said, my eyebrows skyrocketing as I yanked my gaze away from him, which was harder than I expected it to be. _Great, now I can't talk to him. _

"Raina," he called. I forced my head to stay right where it was. "It's okay, I'm covered now."

"I don't trust you," I told him stubbornly as I felt my cheeks redden shamefully. Despite what I said, I cautiously turned my head to the side and, out of my peripheral vision, I could see that the water actually was covering him. I turned my entire body to him and slowly made my way closer to the water. I flung my boots off and sat down with my feet in the water.

"So…" I started awkwardly. "What are you doing down here?"

Longshot looked at the water, then back at me. "Bathing…" he said.

"Oh…right," I said sheepishly. I rubbed my neck uncomfortably. "Um…about…you know, the thing about my dad burning down your village…" The idea hadn't bothered me for the entire day, until then. I had a feeling that it was going to bother me the rest of my life.

I looked up at Longshot. He dipped his head down and stared straight at me.

_Stop feeling like you're to blame for it. It wasn't your fault. _He smiled. _You even tried to stop it._

I forced a smile. "Tried without success," I said ruefully.

"Raina." I looked up at him again, and felt a genuine smile creep across my lips. I felt like Longshot actually liked me when he decided to talk to me. "It wasn't your fault. And, besides, my home is here now." I smiled again and he actually smiled back. Then he tipped his head. _Anyway, what are you doing here? _

"I wanted to get away from Sneers," I admitted.

_Is he still bugging you?_

"Yeah…" I sighed. "Jet told me not to think about it…but…" I sighed again, then grinned to myself. "Jet's a good person. He's…smart, and brave, and nice…and I basically owe him my life."


	15. Rain

**Longshot**

"Jet's a good person," Raina said. Her smile was soft and her face glowed form the sunlight reflecting off of the water. She looked beautiful, really. "He's…smart, and brave, and nice…and I basically owe him my life."

I nodded absently.

"I know you're a boy and all, but…just between you and me…Jet _is _pretty handsome, isn't he?" she said. I nodded absently again, sinking further into the water than I already was. Raina laughed. "Well, that was polite of you to agree with me."

I grinned at her.

Suddenly, it was raining. Pouring, more like. I looked at Raina. She shrugged and got up. "Get your clothes on. I'll wait for you," she said as she pulled her boots on and walked into the trees.

I smiled to myself. As fast as possible, I stepped out of the water and threw my clothes on, which were already soaked from the rain water. I went and found Raina not too far from the water, staring into the trees. She saw me, and smiled. I was about to say something, when her eyes widened.

"The hut," she said. "I cut that hole in the ceiling!"

I laughed out loud. She laughed and shoved me lightly. "It's not funny!" she said, still laughing. "My hammock is gonna be soaked."

I smirked and raised my eyebrows. _Well, that's too bad for you, isn't it? _

She smirked right back and shoved me again. "Gee, thanks. You're a lot of help." She grinned at me, and I followed as she ran through the trees to the hideout.

"Oh, no!" Raina grabbed her hammock and tugged it down the ground. Water sloshed out of it, soaking the wood floor. She looked up at the hole in the ceiling. "It seemed like a good idea at the time…" she sighed. She pulled the hammock off its strings and threw it outside onto the balcony. "We need to patch that hole up."

I arched an eyebrow. _We?_

She smirked. "You live in here, too, so you have to help me with the repairs," she said.

I shrugged, untied my hat form my chin, and handed it to her. She gave me a quizzical look, then her eyes brightened. "You're a genius," she told me as she went out the door and climbed onto the roof. The rain stopped flooding into the hut as soon as she placed my hat over the hole. The interior of the hut wasn't as wet as it could have been, since Raina's hammock probably caught most of the rain water.

She climbed back down and poked her head through the doorway. She looked up at the covered hole and grinned. "Nice work," she said. Then she sighed. "I guess I'll be sleeping on the ground tonight, huh?"

I grinned mischievously. _Or you could sleep in Jet's hut. _

Her eyes narrowed as she approached me. "Not. Funny," she said, poking my chest and emphasizing each word. Then she grinned fondly and ruffled my hair.

Raina ended up choosing to sleep upside down with legs wrapped around a thick branch at the top of the hut. I settled down on my mat and stared up at her. She had her eyes closed and, despite her seemingly uncomfortable position, she looked extremely relaxed. Suddenly, her eyes flicked open. "I know Longshot isn't your real name," she said. "So…what _is _your real name?"

I looked away, contemplating telling her. But I looked back at her, and shook my head. I rolled onto my side to face her and blinked. _What's _your _real name? _

Raina hesitated. "Hatomi," she said after a while. "But…I hate it."

I gave her a questioning look. _Why?_

She crossed her arms. "Because my father picked that name for me," she replied.

_I see._

For some reason, this made her smile. "Night, Longshot."

I woke up to Raina's sharp screech. My eyes shot open and I sat up, shivering as a cold breeze hit my bare chest. I looked to where Raina hung upside down a few hours ago. She wasn't there. I looked around the hut frantically, and finally saw her in the corner, with her hands to her face. I crawled over to her and cautiously put my arm around her. She jerked her head up at my touch.


	16. Comfort

**Raina**

I felt a scream escape my throat as I dropped down from the branch on which I was hanging. I landed and the breath was driven out of my body. I put my hands to my face and inched into the corner of the hut. I had had another nightmare, and this one was worse than the last. I kept my hands to my face and expected to feel moist tears wet them, but nothing came. I just sat there, with my knees to my chest, and my hands covering my face.

Suddenly, I felt an arm enclose around my shoulder. I jerked my head up and saw Longshot, with that confused expression he often gave me. He quickly pulled his arm away and blinked.

_Are you alright? Did I scare you? _

"Yeah…I'm okay," I said, leaving the second question unanswered. "I…" I choked on my words, but still, not one tear escaped my eyes. I simply put my head back down and relaxed as I felt both of Longshot's arm encase me and pull me closer to him. I smiled at the comfort his warmth brought me as I was lulled back to sleep by the sound of his heavy breathing.

Longshot stayed with me for the rest of the night. When I woke up the next time, the sun was shining through the door and the birds were chirping. I looked to my left and saw Longshot staring at me intently, almost…studying my face as I slept. I smiled at him slightly, a thanks for being with me for the entire night. He smiled back and hugged me tightly before getting up and getting his shirt on. I got clumsily to my feet and stretched. I cracked my back by bending down backwards to the point where I could see everything behind me. I stood upright again and grabbed my maroon head cloth. Tying it in my hair, I looked at Longshot, who was still slipping his shirt onto himself, and grinned to myself. And, unexpectedly, I felt my cheeks grow hot. I pressed my hands to them and quickly shook my head. _No way, _I told myself dismissively. I shook my head again and waited for Longshot.

I sat at the huge table on the lower level of the hideout next to Jet, picking at my food uninterestedly. He kept throwing me furtive glances, and pretended like I couldn't notice them. Finally, I turned to him. "What?" I asked sharply.

He shrugged. "You just seem distracted, that's all," he said.

"I had a nightmare last night," I told him, leaving out the part that I had slept in Longshot's arms. Because, honestly, that would only make him shoot accusations at me, and he would never let me live it down.

"Another one?" he asked.

"Yeah," I admitted half-heartedly. "And I don't know what to do about it."

"You could always just not sleep," Jet teased. I shot him a glare, and he shut up. "You know the thing that always works for me when I have nightmares?" He threw his arm around my shoulder and whispered into my ear, "I go night swimming." He took his arm away. "You should try it."

"Alright, Jet, I'll humor you for this one," I said sarcastically.

"What's wrong with night swimming?" he asked.

"Nothing," I said. "It's just…I think I'm going to need a bit more than a late night swim to cure this." I put my still loaded plate down, got up, and walked away.

"Don't forget what you have to do in the raid tonight!" Jet called after me.

Oh, right! The raid! I had almost completely forgotten, since my mind had been focused solely on how to cure my nightmares. I quickly gathered my thoughts. I'm supposed to be in the trees. But, doing what? I scratched my head, then shrugged. _I'll just wing it. _


	17. She's Just a Girl

**Longshot**

I slipped my shirt over my head and grabbed my hat that Raina had actually gotten down from the roof already. She looked at me, I nodded, then she smiled, and leapt out the door down to the lower level. I grinned to myself as I felt my face grow hot. I leapt after her, memories of last night still buzzing around in my head.

"You're not eating." Jet walked across the table to me and sat down. "Something wrong?"

I hesitated, then shook my head. _Just thinking. _

Jet laughed. "Look, Raina might be able to tell what you're saying, but _I'm_ gonna need some more practice first." He patted me on the back. "So, can you do me a favor and talk for this one?"

I cleared my throat. "I was just thinking," I said in a low voice.

Jet laughed again. "There we go," he said. "Thinking about what?"

_Raina. _I kept this answer to myself. Instead, I just shrugged.

"Ah, I get it." Jet sighed and looked over at Raina, who was picking at her food uninterestedly. He smiled, then turned back to me. "Well, don't forget. We're raiding the Fire Nation camp tonight." He patted my shoulder once, then stood up, and sauntered over to Raina. I arched an eyebrow at him.

He sat down next to the green eyed girl. He didn't say anything, but he kept glancing at her. Finally, her face flushed a soft pink and she turned on him. "What?" I heard her ask.

Jet shrugged. I watched as their mouths moved back and forth. Raina put her head down. Jet's eyebrows lowered. She nodded. He grinned at her charmingly, put his arm around her shoulder, pulled her close, and whispered something into her ear. He pulled his arm away and said something else. Raina rolled her eyes and grinned…

"Hey, Longshot." I nearly jumped out of my skin as I felt Pipsqueak approaching. "I gotta question for you."

I put my plate down and stood up. I felt extremely miniscule compared to the giant. I nodded once.

"You're an archer?" I nodded again. "You got enough arrows for tonight?" I thought about this, and then shook my head. "I know where you can get some." He put his huge hand on my shoulder and started to lead me away. "Come on."

I followed Pipsqueak through the forest. We walked in silence. Maybe it was because he didn't talk much himself. Or maybe it was because he knew that I didn't talk. Whatever it was, the silence was ended when we passed the stream that Jet had apparently found Raina at.

"So…" Pipsqueak said awkwardly. "How do you like it here?"

I looked at him, grinned, and nodded. _It's nice. _

He smiled. "What do you think of the little lady?" he asked. He was referring to Raina.

I pulled my hat down to cover my face, which was already reddening. I nodded absently, keeping my fingers on my hat to ensure that it stayed down. I grinned to myself as I heard Pipsqueak chuckle.

"Yeah, she's a special girl," he said. "I don't know how she'll hold up tonight, though."

At this, I picked my head up and gave Pipsqueak a long hard stare. _She's stronger than you think. _His eyes widened.

"Wow," he said. "I've never heard anyone say as much as you just did without talking." He patted me on the back. "And about Raina, I know she's strong. She has that independent air around her. But she's still just a girl."

I hesitated, then nodded. He was right. She _was _still a girl. She had emotions, and feelings, and she could be hurt just like any of the rest of us.

"Well, we're here."

* * *

**A/N:**

**I apologize for the shortness of some of these. **


	18. Overprotective

**Jet**

I wandered out into the forest with my hooked swords, one in each hand. I carved markings into the trees as I walked past them. I found a dead tree stump and sat down. Suddenly, I heard a rustling come from behind me. I jumped to my feet and gripped my swords tightly. I heard the rustling again, this time, from the left. I turned my head just in time to be able to put my hands up to protect my face as Raina attacked me, shoving me onto the ground and pinning my arms to the grass. She grinned, and let me up.

"I got a question," she said, leaning up against a tree casually.

I quickly gathered myself, recovered from the shock that came from being tackled, and nodded. "What is it?" I asked, stumbling to my feet.

"Is that what I'm supposed to be doing tonight?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No," I told her. She arched an eyebrow. "I don't want you getting too close to the fighting." Her jaw dropped in protest. "Look, Raina…" I approached her. "I know you're tough, and you can fight. But I can't afford to have you get hurt."

She said nothing. She only glared at me with one eyebrow arched, almost saying, "_Are you _kidding _me?!" _

"You're still new here and…well, I don't want you to end up with any injuries." I tried to make things better, rephrased some things, but I obviously failed.

"I'm still new?" she said, her eyes blazing. "What about Longshot? Are you going to let _him _fight?"

"Longshot is an archer," I reminded her. "He'll be able to fight long distance, so I don't have to worry about him."

"Jet," she said sternly. "I know you're only trying to help, but I can take care of myself."

"I know…"

"Then why are you being so over protective?" she demanded, crossing her arms.

"I…" I trailed off as I absorbed just how pretty she had looked when she was angry. "I don't know, I just…" I sighed. "Just…don't get involved. That's an order."

"You know what?" she said. She put her hands on her hips. "Fine. I get it. That's an order, right? You _order_ me to stay out of the fighting? Fine. But…" She approached me and jabbed me in the chest with her finger. "…just so you know, I have a nasty habit of not obeying orders." She gave me one last glare, and vanished into the trees.

"Wow…" I breathed.


	19. There's No Need

**Raina**

I jumped from tree to tree back to the hideout. I landed in the clearing and stalked up to the rope. I grabbed hold, gave it a sharp tug, and was lifted up through the leaves. I landed on the bridge loudly, and quickly made my way back up to the hut. When I reached the entrance, I remembered my hammock that I had removed, since it was full of rain water. I hauled it back inside and kicked it into the corner. I then went back outside and climbed onto the roof.

"Hey, Longshot," I said quietly as I swung my legs over the edge of the roof, letting them dangle. Honestly, I had been extremely surprised to see him up there, but for some reason, I did not have any shocked reaction to it. Maybe it was because I was too focused on what Jet had said. "What're you doin' up here?"

He picked up his bow and waved it.

"Ah," I said, jerking my head. "You have to be ready for tonight, right?" He nodded. "You're lucky you're actually allowed to do something."

He scooted over and sat beside me. He put his hand on my shoulder and dipped his head.

"It's just…" I turned to face him. "Jet is being so over protective." Longshot's eyebrows rose. "I don't know why…ha, I don't even think he knows himself…but, he is, and he doesn't let me do _any _sort of creative moves or anything if he can help it. Which he can't, most of the time. But today, he 'ordered' me not to get involved in anything tonight…"

Longshot gave me a hard stare, but his eyebrow was arched. _Jet cares about you a lot. _

I arched an eyebrow right back at him. "Well, yeah, I guess," I said. "But…still, it gets annoying, you know?" He nodded. "I mean…" I picked up one of his arrows from behind me and ran my finger along the edge. "How would you feel if someone told you couldn't be an archer because arrows are sharp?"

He shrugged. _Lousy. _

I sighed and pulled my knees to my chest. "What am I going to do about Jet?" I muttered, putting my chin to my knees.

Longshot grinned and punched his right hand into his left palm.

I laughed and shoved him lightly. "Not funny," I told him. "Thanks for listening to me." He nodded once, and we stayed on the roof together until we were called down to the lower level for the raid.

"Okay, you all know what you're supposed to be doing?" Jet asked in a whisper as we neared the Fire Nation camp. We all nodded, but I just glared at him with my arms crossed. He looked at me. "Go on ahead. But just be quiet. Wait for my signal, and, if you can, try to listen in on their conversation."

I raised my eyebrows at him and stayed right where I was. He walked up to me after everyone had gone.

"Raina." He put one hand on my shoulder. "What's the problem?"

I rolled my eyes. "Oh, nothing," I said sarcastically. I shrugged his hand off my shoulder.

"I know you're lying."

"Wow, you're so smart!" I said, bitterly sarcastic.

"Look, I know you're upset about what I said earlier…" he began. I cut him off my shoving my hand to his mouth.

"I know why you did," I told him quietly. His eyes widened. "It's because you think I'm weaker than the rest of you."

"That's not true," he insisted, pushing my hand off of his mouth. "You're strong…"

"Then _what _is your problem?" I demanded.

"I-I don't know!" Jet put his hands on his head. "I just… _maybe _I care about you…a lot…"

His response took me aback. I looked at him, my head tipped slightly. I suddenly felt a little bad about how hostile I had been to him about the subject. After all, he was only trying to keep me from getting hurt, even if there was really no reason.

I straightened up and pulled myself back together. "Well, thanks," I said. "But there's no need." I walked away, leaving a probably surprised Jet behind me.

* * *

**A/N: **

**So, it might seem like Raina just flat out rejected Jet, but trust me, this isn't the end of it. **


	20. Rejected

**Jet**

"Well, thanks, but there's no need."

_That's a rejection if I ever heard one. _As soon as her footsteps faded, I slapped my hand to my forehead. _You're such an idiot, _I chided myself. _Why were you so stupid and over protective? Why couldn't you see how much it provoked her? I thought you liked her! _I continued to scold myself until I felt Pipsqueak's heavy footsteps approaching.

"Hey, Jet, you coming?" he said.

"What?" I turned around. "Oh…yeah."

I walked with Pipsqueak until we came to the campsite. A large bonfire flickered in the trees and I could hear loud, obnoxious voices. I looked for Raina. I didn't see her, until I remembered that I had told her to be in the trees. And there she was, perched on a thick branch with Longshot, clearing engaging in a conversation. I crossed my arms, and pulled my attention away and back to the Fire Nation soldiers.

I listened briefly to their conversation, then turned my head to Pipsqueak and Sneers. "Alright…" I whispered. "Ready?" They nodded. I grinned and signaled for them to move.

* * *

**A/N:**

**Sorry I haven't updated in a while! Updates will be more frequent now, I promise. **


	21. The Raid

**Raina**

I hopped up onto a high limb of the tree overhanging to Fire Nation soldiers' campfire. I watched as the fire flickered, caught in a trance, and only the feeling of a hand on my shoulder jerked me out of it. "Here, Longshot." I nodded to the silent boy.

He dipped his head once and pushed his hat off his head and onto his back. _What happened?_

"What do you mean?" I asked, being sure to keep my voice to a dull whisper.

_With you and Jet. _

"Oh, that," I said, turning my head back to the fire. "I…uh, well, he told me that…he told me why he was being so over protective…" I rubbed my neck uncomfortably.

Longshot laid another hand on my shoulder. I looked at him. He blinked and arched an eyebrow.

"He…uh, he said… he said that it was because he…cares about me…a lot…and…" I sighed and turned my head back to the fire. "Crazy, huh?"

There was no response. No verbal response, obviously, and he didn't try to turn me around so that I could read him. The only minor response I sensed was his body tense up and his head hang down. I turned around.

"Longshot?" I said. He looked at me with his brown eyes, sighed, and pulled his hat back onto his head, covering his eyes.

I shook my head and continued watching the Fire Nation soldiers talk amongst themselves. "So, did you hear about what happened to Kasai?" I gasped. He was talking about my father! I strained my ears to hear exactly what he was saying.

"No. Why? What happened?"

"His kid ran out on him." The soldier took a sip of his tea. _Liar. Is that what my father told you? _

"Hatomi left? Really?" The soldier put both hands on his knees and leaned forward.

"Yeah. And Shima was killed. He said she disobeyed his orders and tried to help burn down that village, even though he was telling her not to." The soldier shook his head. "Non-benders these days."

"But…Kasai told her _not _to help raid the village? That doesn't make sense. It was his job to _destroy_ that village. Wouldn't he have wanted all the help he could get?"

"Kasai said he didn't want her to get involved because he didn't want her to get hurt."

"Foolish woman. Her _and_ her kid."

I scowled at the man and balled my hands into tight fists. "They're talking about me… My father told them a lie. Did you hear what they said-" I turned around to Longshot, but he wasn't there anymore. I was surprised that he had left without me noticing. I looked around for him and saw him sitting about five trees arrow, poised to shoot, with his hat lowered over his eyes. I grinned to myself at how focused he looked.

"Ready?" I hear Jet whisper rather loudly. I nodded down to him, along with the others. He smirked and waved his hand.

Immediately, Sneers and Pipsqueak darted out of the trees, taking the Fire Nation soldiers by surprise. They punched, kicked, and even bashed their heads together, taking out the first wave of soldiers. Then, Jet jumped out and landed right in front of the soldiers' huge bonfire, making him look like some sort of evil spirit. He was on the offense the instant he realized he was being attacked. He slashed at every soldier within a five foot radius, and I couldn't help being impressed by how skilled he was with his hooked swords. _Where did he get those, anyway? _

He called out to Longshot, who shot an arrow immediately. He shot about two more before graduating to shooting three at a time, with amazing accuracy. I grinned to myself.

About a minute in to the fighting, I got tired of watching. I got tired of just observing Sneers punch the life out of a soldier, Pipsqueak squash two more, Jet slash through the bodies with his swords, and I even got tired of watching Longshot shoot his arrows. I took one look at Jet, then jumped down from my tree.

I landed on a soldier's shoulders, upside down, both hands planted on either side of his head. I used his shoulders as leverage and did a backflip off of him. This obviously surprised him, and he frantically looked above him to see what just happened. I smirked and lunged forward, slipped under the soldier's legs, unbalanced him, and sent him falling to the ground. I grinned.

I caught a glimpse of Longshot. He was looking at me with wide brown eyes. _What are you doing? _He tipped his head and his gaze shifted to something behind me.

I quickly whipped around just in time to see a soldier with a long spear coming at me. At the last minute, I jumped up and out of the way. The soldier regained his footing clumsily, giving me just enough time to land on his head and push him down before hopping back onto the ground. I gave one last look at Longshot, then turned around to plunge back into the fighting.

As I turned around, I almost slammed in to Jet. "What are you doing?" he asked.

"What does it look like?" I retorted.

"Raina-"

"Save it, Jet," I said, slapping my hand over his mouth. "I'm doing this, and you can't stop me."

"Actually, I was going to say that you're probably going to need these." He handed me two twin daggers, the fire light flickering off of them perfectly. I grinned at him and took them gratefully.

"Thanks," I said.

"Come on," he said. "And watch your back."

I nodded and darted toward yet another soldier. He caught me off guard, though, and turned to face me, aiming a sword right at me. I managed to twirl out of the way, and his sword stabbed air. I used his momentary confusion as an advantage, and jumped onto his back and slammed his face into the ground.

I did similar things to about five other soldiers, dodging their attacks, using their own body weight against them, and occasionally, I would aim my dagger at their heads, purely just to scare them. I didn't have any intentions of actually killing them. Suddenly, I heard Jet yell.

"There's more coming! We have to get out of here!" he shouted. Pipsqueak gave one last punch to the soldier he was grappling with, and fled into the trees as Jet ordered. Sneers followed, and I also saw Longshot jump onto the ground and dart away from the camp. "Raina!" I turned my head and saw Jet beckoning frantically to me.

As soon as I neared him, he grabbed my hand and took off, practically dragging me with him. There were so many low hanging, sharp branches that it was hard to keep up with him without falling or getting stabbed. And if I fell, I would be dead, because the soldiers were actually pursuing us.

Suddenly, my head was jerked back. At first, I though a soldier had caught me by my hair. But then I realized that I was actually caught on a tree branch, my hair a large tangled ball. It looked impossible to untangle. I pulled and thrashed, desperate to get out of its grasp, knowing that staying any longer would mean capture and death.

"Jet!" I screamed.

The brown haired boy turned his attention to my hair, quickly trying to untangle it, but to no avail. I felt the vibrations of heavy Fire Nation soldier footsteps approaching, and I felt the panic rise in my chest. I thrashed my head, which only made it worse. Then, I saw Jet pull out one of his hooked swords. At first, I thought he was going to kill me. But as his sword slashed at the tree branch, I realized that he was cutting me lose. I gave one last pull, and my head was free. Instantly, I darted away from the nearing soldiers. I felt Jet come up beside me and grin. I grinned back.


	22. Hair

**Jet**

When we finally made it back to the hideout, I thought that the Fire Nation soldiers had followed us all the way there. But they hadn't. They probably got lost in the labyrinth of trees. I sat on the roof of Raina's hut with her as she played with her hair, which was oddly lopsided and uneven, since I had cut it.

"Sorry about your hair," I told her.

"It's fine," she said. "It actually doesn't look that bad."

I think she was just saying that. The right side of her hair was now extremely short, about an inch and a half above her shoulders. The left side, however was shorter by comparison of its old length, but it was much longer than the right. It came down to that length- about two inches under her shoulder- at a surprisingly clean slope. And she now had choppy, uneven bangs. I started to feel bad for her.

"Here, watch." Raina ran her fingers through her hair, pulled it all to the left side as best she could, and brushed her jagged bangs to the right side. "See? It's not that bad." She brushed her bangs aside again. "I actually kind of like it."

I grinned. "Impressive. I didn't think you could make that look so…good." At the realization of what I said, I quickly tuned my head away and rubbed my neck uncomfortably. I felt my cheeks grow hot.

"Jet…" she said quietly. "About what you said earlier…" I turned my head to her. She was staring at her hands. My cheeks grew warm again as I admitted to myself how pretty she was, even with her new hairdo. "What…what did you mean?"

"Uh…" Her question, honestly, caught me off guard. "I…I mean, I do care about you." I sighed a breath of relief. The first sentence is always the hardest. "A lot. And…the only reason I wasn't going to let you fight was because I didn't want you to-"

"Get hurt." Raina finished my sentence. "But I did fight. And I didn't get hurt."

"You almost did," I reminded her.

"But I didn't," she countered. "I'm perfectly fine." She ran her fingers through her hair. "Except for my hair."

"Raina…" I said quietly after a moment. "I…I-"

"Um, I have to go…do something…" she said quickly before I could finish my sentence. She stood up and leapt off the roof. I sighed and stared at the sky.


	23. A Moment Alone

**Longshot**

"Longshot." I turned my head and saw Raina running towards me. "Come with me ."

Before I could ask her where we were going, she grabbed my hand and started tugging me with her down to the lower level of the hideout. I squeezed her hand right before she pulled me over the side and down onto the forest floor. She gave me one look, then I followed her through the trees and to the lake.

_What's going on? _I asked her when she sat down next to me.

"I just…needed to get away for a little," she told me. She pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them.

_You want to talk? _

"No," she answered straightforwardly. "Not really. I…well, actually, yes. I do."

I lied down and put my arms under my head. "Go on." I saw her grin at hearing me speak.

"Jet told me that he cared about me again," she began. I closed my eyes and swallowed. "And…he was going to say something else, but I left before he could and…" She sighed. "I don't know what to do."

I sat up and put my hand on her shoulder. _Well, what do you _want _to do? _

"I don't know," she replied, shaking her head. "I…like him. But…I just don't know. I think I might…someone…I mean, maybe…I don't know. Maybe I do…but…maybe I don't…" The entire time I had no idea what she was talking about. She was basically muttering to herself.

I dared to move my arm around her and hug her closer to me. At this, she smiled and rested her head on my shoulder. "What am I supposed to do?" she breathed.

I hesitated. Should I tell her what I thought of her, what I thought of her being with Jet? Should I ask her what she thought of me? And then I wondered, do I even truly like her, or is it just an infatuation? Is it just a simple puppy love?

"I don't know…" I said quietly. "You should do…" I sighed. "Whatever feels right."

Raina sighed and then grinned. "Thanks, Longshot," she said. "For always being here to talk when I needed to." She looked at me, her green eyes looking almost white in the moonlight and her uneven bangs sweeping loosely across her face. I smiled at her and she quickly looked away. "We should be…" She cleared her throat. "Getting back to the…hideout."

I nodded. She stood up and tugged me quickly to my feet.


	24. A Bit of Confusion

**Raina**

"Thanks, Longshot," I said. "For always being here to talk when I need to." He smiled down at me. I quickly looked away, hiding my light blush. "We should be…" I cleared my throat. "Getting back to the hideout." I stood up, grabbed his hand, and tugged him into a standing position.

When we got back to the hideout, we quickly and silently made our way up to our hut. I sighed and leaned up against the wall, staring out the hole that I had cut a few days earlier. Longshot looked up and grinned at me.

I pulled the cloth out of my hair and shook it out. Even if it was now oddly angled, it didn't look that bad. I actually quite liked it. I then slipped my shirt over my head, leaving my in only the white bandage like coverings that were what we called underwear. I slid my back down on the wall until I was sitting comfortably with my knees to my chest. I watched as Longshot pulled his own shirt over his head and tossed it on the ground.

I looked away as he turned his head to me, trying to seem casual, but feeling my face start to burn. When I looked back, he arched an eyebrow, and I quickly shook my head nonchalantly. He grinned and lied down on his mat. I scooted over to the entrance of our hut and stared outside. Not much was happening, expect I saw that Jet was sitting in the entrance of his hut as well. I figured that I was concealed by the darkness enough, and I continued to watch him.

He was just sitting there, watching the moon, like I had been doing. Realizing that watching the fourteen year old seemed a bit stalker-ish, I stood up and walked away from the doorway. Longshot looked at me.

_Something else wrong?_

"Nah," I said casually, crossing my arms loosely. "Night, Longshot." He nodded and I practically slumped to the ground. I rested my arms under my head and let my mind drift.

I thought that my nightmares would stop after a few nights. But they didn't. I flicked my eyes open and gasped. I stared at the ceiling for a moment, taking in reality, and breathing a sigh of relief as I recognized that my dream had been nothing more than a dream. I shut my eyes again and attempted to go back to sleep, without success.

I groaned in frustration and sat up. I scooted over to the entrance of our hut, and watched the moon move across the night sky for a few moments. Then, unexpectedly, I felt a tear trickle down my cheek. I couldn't quite place why. Maybe it was out of grief for my mother. Maybe it was because the nightmare I had tonight was the worst of them yet. Maybe it was because I was still pretty confused about…everything, really.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I wasn't surprised. I slowly turned my head. "Go back to sleep, Longshot," I said, rather harshly. I wiped my single tear away impatiently. "Seriously. It's nothing."

He gave me a hardened look and dipped his head. _It is something. _

"No, it's not," I insisted. "I just couldn't sleep."

_But you were crying. _

"I was _not,_" I shot back.

He arched and eyebrow playfully, and for some reason, that made me grin.

"Okay," I sighed. "Maybe I was a little."

The archer shifted position so he was sitting directly beside me, and smiled. _You can tell me why. _

"I know I can," I told him lightly. "But I'm pretty sure you already know why."

_Nightmares? _

"Obviously."

_What about?_

At that, I began to cry again. I brushed all the tears away from my face as quickly as they came, not wanting to let Longshot see me cry any more. _Tears are weak, _I reminded myself. _And I'm not weak. _I felt the archer's arm encircle me and pull me closer to him. I was surprisingly comforted by his warmth and the sound of his breathing. I sat with him for a few moments, then stood up and moved inside of the hut. I lied down on the floor and stared at the ceiling for a moment more. I shut my eyes and let my mind drift.

I was awoken by the sound of shifting. I didn't turn my head to see who it was because, honestly, who else could it have been? I felt Longshot move beside me and put his arms under his head. His breathing slowed and soon, he was asleep. I felt a slight smile cross my lips as I did the same. No nightmares disturbed me for the rest of that night.


	25. Different

**Longshot**

My eyes opened slowly as they adjusted to the bright morning light. I looked down and saw Raina curled up in front of me. I grinned to myself. She looked beautiful. Suddenly, she jerked her head up and looked at the entrance to our hut.

"Hey there." Pipsqueak leaned up against the doorway casually. "Uh, I can see you're busy so…I'll just come back later."

"No!" Raina screeched. She quickly stood up and brushed herself off. "I, uh…we were just…" She glanced at me, then back at Pipsqueak. "What do you want?"

"Food," he replied. "And I can't get it until you're down on the lower level."

"Oh, right." Raina grabbed her maroon cloth, tied it in her hair, and leaped off the balcony. Pipsqueak turned to me and arched an eyebrow. I shook my head and he just laughed.

"You're a little young for that anyway." I grinned awkwardly back at him. "Come on, then," he said. I got my shirt on, grabbed my hat, and followed the giant out the door.

I sat at the huge wooden table, barely eating. I stared at Sneers talking to Raina. He was probably insulting her. She shook her head and shooed him away, which he actually did.

"Hey, Longshot." I felt Jet's hand come down on my shoulder and I turned my head. "You're my friend, right?"

I nodded and arched an eyebrow. _Sure. _

"Well, can I ask you a question?" I nodded again. "What d'ya think of Raina?"

I felt my eyes widen a bit, and I pulled my hat down to cover my blushing face. Then I nodded.

"Yeah, she's different, isn't she?" I nodded again, for the fifth time. "And really pretty."

I looked at him. _Why are you asking me this? _

To my surprise, he seemed to understand. "Well…because…I think I like her…a little."

I felt my heart drop. Maybe because Jet just told me that he liked Raina. Or maybe it was because I knew that I couldn't compete with fourteen year old charmer like him. It was probably the latter.

"Do you think she likes me?" he asked, pulling me from the criticism I was giving myself.

"Um…" I found my voice and spoke. "Probably…but I don't know."

I heard him laugh at the fact that I spoke. "Nevermind," he said. "I just thought you of all people would know, since you spend so much time together." He punched me in the shoulder lightly and walked away.

Raina watched him with wide, interested eyes. Then she walked over to me and sat down. "What were you and Jet talking about?" she asked casually.

_Nothing, _I shrugged.

"Yeah, right," she said disbelievingly, shoving me lightly. I smiled at her as she hugged me with one arm. And I realized that what Jet said was right. Raina _was _different.


	26. He's Close

**Raina**

A lot of time passed. The rest of fall and the whole of winter passed. It got extremely cold at night, and I found myself sleeping with Longshot on a daily basis, so as to not freeze to death. We didn't try to raid the Fire Nation camp again. First of all, we couldn't find them again, and second of all, it was too risky, especially in the winter.

Jet came up with a name for the group one day in the middle of the night. He came bursting into our hut and shook me awake. He told me, in my groggy, barely conscious state, that he had had an "epiphany" and decided that we would be called the Freedom Fighters. I had no idea where that name came from, but it had a nice ring to it. So I just nodded and told him to leave.

Most people here didn't remember the exact date of their birthdays. There was really no way to tell exactly what day it was anyway. So as soon as one of us would notice that the seasons were changing from winter to spring, we would celebrate our birthdays together, as one group. At least most of us remembered our age. I turned fourteen, Jet turned fifteen, Sneers turned seventeen, and, he never told me this, but I was almost certain that Longshot was fourteen as well.

Almost every night I had nightmares. And every time I did, Longshot was there to comfort me. No matter what time of the night it was, or how long I was wide awake from the nightmares, he would stay with me. He was my best friend. I fell in love with the warmth and friendliness he brought to me. And more than once, I even wondered if it was really _him _I was falling in love with.

.oOOOo.

I bolted upright and shook my head. _Get it together, _I scolded myself. I quickly gathered my thoughts and returned to reality. _My name is Raina. I'm fourteen. I'm a Freedom Fighter. My mother is dead…_ At this, I started to cry. I hadn't cried over a nightmare in a long time, but the thought of my mother being dead was horrible. I wiped my tears away and buried my face in my hands. Not five seconds later, I felt a hand on my shoulder. It had become a routine thing for Longshot to do. I turned my head to him and he immediately took me in his arms. I started to pathetically sob softly into his chest.

I pulled away and looked at him. He just smiled sweetly and brushed away my remaining tears with his thumb. I smiled back at him and pressed his hand to my cheek. I closed my eyes and breathed I his comforting scent, then reopened them and pulled away, rubbing my face with my hands.

"Thanks," I said flatly, rubbing my eyes. I glanced up into his big brown eyes and smiled. I then reached up and kissed his cheek. I quickly looked away to hide my flushed face. Then, I saw Jet standing in the doorway, and I immediately wondered, how long was he there?

I stood up. "Hey…Jet," I said awkwardly, rubbing my shoulder. I glanced at Longshot, who was still on the floor, then back at Jet, who was casually leaning up against the doorway.

"Wanna go for a walk?" he asked.

I hesitated a moment, examining my options. Stay in the hut with Longshot, in awkward silence for the rest of the night, or take a moonlit walk with Jet. I went for the latter. "Sure," I said. I turned to Longshot. "Go back to sleep. I'll be back later."

I leapt off the edge of the balcony with Jet. "Look at you two," he said as we started walking. "Talking to each other like you've been married for years."

"What do you…" I shook my head. "Never mind." We went down to the lower level and down the rope to the forest floor. "So what do you want?"

"I just thought you'd like to know that we found another Fire Nation camp." I felt my eyes widen with interest. Jet grinned charmingly down at me, and I realized that he must have had a growth spurt over the past seven months. He was now much taller and much more broad shouldered.

"And?" I pressed enthusiastically.

"And…" Jet sighed and put his hand on my shoulder. "I think this camp might be where your dad is."

I felt a fire spark in my stomach, and I felt like running someone through with a sword. "Come on, then," I said, grabbing Jet's hand and dragging him through the trees.

"Where?" he asked, confused.

"You're taking me to that camp," I told him. "And I'm going to kill that bastard I used to call my father."

"Whoa." Jet tugged his hand away from me and put his hands up in front of his chest. "Language, little lady," he said teasingly. I punched him lightly in the shoulder. "And, anyway, do you really think that's a smart idea?"

"Of-" I hesitated. "Of course it is."

"You're not the smartest, are you?"

"What?!"

"Calm down for a second." Jet put both hands on my shoulders. "It wouldn't be smart for you to just go bursting in on those soldiers."

"What do you mean 'you'?" I said. "I'll have you with me."

"Well…sure," he agreed. "But it's just not the right time."

"Then when _is _the right time?" I demanded, shoving his hands off my shoulders. "When my dad decides to kill a few more people?"

"Basically."

"Jet!"

"Kidding! Look, we'll wait a few more days, just so we can really get a feel for what we're up against. Okay?"

I sighed, frustrated, but I didn't object any further. "Okay," I said reluctantly. "But…if we _do _encounter my father, don't confront him." I turned my back to Jet as I felt my eyes begin to blaze with anger. "I want to be the one to deal with him."

"Whatever you want," Jet agreed, to my surprise. I turned around and arched an eyebrow. He just shrugged. "I know you're tough enough to handle your dad."

I grinned at him. "Thanks," I said.


	27. Smellerbee

**Longshot**

The next morning was more than awkward. Raina didn't come back as soon as I had thought she would. And she wasn't in the hut when I woke up. Apparently she had been down on the lower level with Jet the entire night. I gathered myself, and headed down.

"…and even if we do, how are you going to-" Jet was talking to Raina in a hushed, urgent tone.

"Calm down," she said soothingly. Then, her tone turned hard. "I got it all worked out. I'll stay in the trees, and do those famous aerial attacks you keep talking about. He may be a firebender, but he's fat, and he wouldn't be able to climb a tree if his life depended on it."

"But-"

"Stop worrying. Odds are, we probably won't even find him. Hopefully, he's already dead." She crossed her arms, and glanced at me. She smiled. "Morning."

I glanced at her, then Jet, then back at her. _What are you talking about? _

"Jet found another Fire Nation camp, and he thinks it might be my father's."

_So you're going to fight him? _

"Eventually, if he's man enough to actually take me on," she said confidently, lifting her chin high. I realized then that Raina could be extremely belligerent at times.

I shook my head. _Are you sure that's a good idea? _

"Yes!" she said loudly.

I put my hands up. _Okay, okay. _

She grinned and ruffled my hair fondly, forcing me to pull my hat onto my head.

"I don't understand how you can stay so silent all the time." Raina and I wandered through the trees, looking for things I assumed only she could find. "Don't you just want to scream sometimes?"

I shrugged. _I guess. _

"Okay…" she sighed. "Well, have you ever been really upset…and you…wanted to…just tell the entire world to-"

I slapped my hand over her mouth and raised my eyebrow, questioning her about what word she was about to say next. She laughed and shoved my hand away.

"Tell me, though," she continued, taking a few paces forward. "Why _are _you so silent?"

I stepped up next to her and gave her a hardened stare, giving her as many words as possible with only my eyes. She stared back at me with her bewitching green eyes, then nodded once.

"It _does_ have something to do with your family…" she breathed. "I know what you mean. When I saw my mother die, I thought I was never going to speak again. And I didn't for a while. I was on my own for at least a month and a half. But then Jet came. And he brought me here. And I found my voice again." She looked at me and smiled. I noticed then how much she had changed over the past months. Her features were more defined, her eyes were brighter, and her complexion seemed to glow even more. All that had changed, and yet, her hair still remained lopsided. I guessed that she actually preferred it that way. And she looked beautiful.

I took a deep breath. "Raina…" I breathed. She turned her head and smiled again. "I-"

"Wait." Raina pushed her finger against my lip. She froze for a moment, then turned to me. "Did you hear that?" I opened my mouth to speak, but she darted away before I could.

I sighed, slapped my hand against my forehead, and followed her as best I could.

When I caught up to her, she was crouching behind a mass of undergrowth, watching something in the distance. She whipped her head around to me, and I almost jumped. She motioned for me to be quiet (like that was such a challenge), and beckoned for me to come closer.

I crept up next to Raina, and I saw what she was looking at. A young girl, maybe a year younger than the both of us, was sitting against a tree, completely bare, hugging her knees to her chest and burying her face in them. I glanced at Raina, who was staring at the girl with wide eyes. She glanced back at me, nodded, and pushed herself out of the foliage.

I watched as she approached the girl, careful not to startle her. When she was no more than five feet away from her, she sat down in front of her and began talking. I couldn't make out her words, but I could tell they were soothing by the way the uncovered girl responded. She grinned up at Raina, and actually let out a small laugh. Raina picked a tall piece of grass from the ground and put it in her mouth as she talked to the girl some more.

Raina beckoned to me. I hesitated, then stood up and walked over. I sat down slowly next to Raina and examined the blood covering the girl's body. I could tell she had been hurt. Badly.

"Give me your scarf," Raina whispered to me. I looked at her, and untied the red scarf I kept around my neck. She took it and wrapped it around the girl's shoulders. "You got a name?"

The girl hugged my scarf to herself, and sighed. "It's…" She sighed again.

"That's okay," Raina said. "You can just make for yourself, if you want."

"It's…" the girl began again. Her eyes flickered around frantically, and after a moment, she smiled. "Smellerbee."

Raina's eyes widened and her jaw dropped slightly. "Uh…" She rubbed the back of her neck. "Okay. Okay, Smellerbee."


	28. Conclusions

**Jet**

I was sitting on the lower level of the hideout, letting my feet dangle over the edge, when I saw Longshot and Raina come wandering back with a person I'd never seen before. I went down to the forest floor to join them. I examined the person who I assumed to be a boy. I looked at Raina, who raised her eyebrows at me, and then I looked at Longshot, who just nodded. Man, that kid was strange sometimes.

"This is Smellerbee," Raina told me. I arched an eyebrow at that name. "It's a lovely name, don't you think?" I grinned fondly at the green eyed girl.

"Hey, Smellerbee," I said. I extended my hand. "Name's Jet."

"He's the leader of our group," Raina added.

"We're the Freedom Fighters," I said, crossing my arms and straightening up. "Longshot, do me a favor and take him to one of those smaller tents we have. You know, around where Sneers stays." The silent archer nodded, and began leading the new Smellerbee away.

"Smellerbee is actually a-" Raina began, but she stopped midsentence, looked at Smellerbee, and nodded briefly.

"He's a what?" I pressed.

"Nothing," she replied quickly. I raised a questioning eyebrow, but said nothing as she continued to shake her head. She then leaped up with impressive speed to the lower balcony above our heads. I joined her.

"Hey," she said after a moment of silence. "About that Fire Nation camp thing…"

"Before you ask, I don't know when we'll be doing it," I told her slowly.

"Well, it better be soon, because I'm losing patience just sitting here and doing nothing while my father is out killing people."

I put my hands on her shoulders. "It'll be soon," I assured her. "Okay?"

"Okay," she sighed.

"Just trust me."

"I do."

"Promise?"

"Jet." She gave me a somewhat hard, yet playful glare. I put my head down and laughed, and I felt her gently kiss my forehead. "I have no idea what that whole thing was about, but if it makes you feel any better, I do trust you. Got it?"

"Got it," I said.

Raina shook her head and walked away.

"Whoa." I whipped around and saw Sneers glowering over me. "What the hell was that all about?"

"What are talking about?" I asked smoothly.

"That whole 'trust' thing with Raina," he said. "What are planning on doing to her?" He arched a seemingly mischievous eyebrow at me.

"What?" I asked in disbelief. "Nothing. You and Pipsqueak always jump to conclusions."

"Yeah," he actually agreed. "Like the time that giant found Raina and Longshot sleeping together." He let out a hearty laugh.

"Sleeping together?" I asked, trying my best to sound nonchalant.

"Not like that." Sneers put his hands up at his chest. "No, they were just…you know, sleeping, but together."

"So…they weren't…" I made I lightly punched my right hand into my loose left palm a few times.

"Why?" Sneers asked teasingly. "Why does it matter to you?" He circled me like I was a helpless fire ferret cowering under a boarcupine. "You…like her? Would you rather she lose her virginity to you? Is that it?"

Trying not to be intimidated by the seventeen year old and crack under pressure, I rolled my shoulders back and turned to face him. "No," I answered simply.

"Whatever you say, chief." Sneers smirked at me one last time and walked away.

"Don't call me that…" I mumbled as he left.


	29. Shooting

**A/N: **

**Wow, has it been a while! First off, I'm so sorry for not updating in...well, forever! I've just been EXTREMELY busy and I haven't had time to write more, or get on here and publish anything new. And I guess it doesn't help that my obsession with Avatar has subsided since last month. But don't worry, it'll come back, and then I'll be updating like usual. :) Please, I'm begging you, be patient with me. Updates won't be as frequent as I had promised before, unfortunately. :( But I'll do my best to keep you guys entertained. :)**

* * *

**Raina**

I went back to the hut to find Longshot sitting on the balcony, sharpening his bow and arrows as usual. He noticed me walk in, smiled, and went back to sharpening.

"Where'd you put Smellerbee?" I asked him. He nodded toward one of the smaller tents hidden behind some trees. I laughed inwardly. "Why did you put her all the way back there?"

He grinned and shrugged. _I thought Sneers could use a new neighbor. _

I laughed. "He's gonna hate you for that," I told him. I sat down next to him, letting my feet dangle below me. "So, Smellerbee is going to pretend she's a boy while she's here."

_Seems that way. _

"Why didn't I think of that?" I pouted. "I wouldn't have been underestimated so much just because I'm a girl."

He looked and me and grinned slightly. _I never underestimated you. _

"That's because you're different," I told him honestly. I noticed his face flush just before he pulled his hat down. I moved closer to him and snatched it off of his head. He reached for it, but I put my hand over his face and pushed him back. "You need to stop hiding under this thing."

His cheeks flushed again as he crossed his arms and pouted. _What do I have to do to get it back? _He arched a questioning eyebrow.

"Uh…" The question caught me off guard.

He uncrossed his arms and grinned slyly. _Want me to teach you how to shoot? _He ran his fingers along the length of his bow.

I scoffed. "I _know _how to shoot an arrow," I informed him, a bit proud.

_Right. _

"I do!" I insisted. I really did. My father had taught me when I was about eight. I wasn't that bad of a shot, but I was nowhere near as good as Longshot.

_Okay, _he shrugged.

I huffed. "You don't believe me, do you?" I said.

He raised his eyebrow and grinned.

"Fine," I half hissed. "I'll show you that I can shoot." I stood up and hopped down from the balcony. "Aren't you coming?" I stalked up to him and tugged on his foot. He slowly, with every intention of driving me insane, made his way down. He grinned. I grabbed his hand and practically dragged him down to the forest floor with me.

The silent archer took me to a clearing, which just happened to be the exact same clearing Jet and I had found him all those months ago. I grinned and laid my hand on a tree with the signature markings of an archer. I turned to Longshot.

"Give me your bow," I said, extending my hand. He removed it from his shoulder and handed it to me. "And an arrow." He smirked and handed me one of those as well.

I notched the arrow into the bow and took aim at a tree which was about fifty yards away. I squinted my eyes and adjusted the bow, making sure to keep in mind that the wind was blowing ever so slightly. I widened my eyes, letting them adjust to the light, before squinting them back and letting the arrow fly. It landed in the very middle of the tree with a loud snapping sound. I laughed inwardly at my success as I turned to Longshot and smirked.

He smirked back at me. _Not bad. _

I shoved him lightly in the chest. "Not bad?" I repeated, laughing along with him. "That was better than just 'not bad'."

He motioned for me to give him his bow back, so I did. He notched an arrow in the bow, aimed at the same tree, and let his arrow fly. To my surprise, he actually managed to hit the tip of the arrow I had shot, causing it to split about half way down the middle, then fall to the ground. He turned to me and grinned, almost charmingly. I couldn't help grinning back.

Longshot handed me his bow again, practically challenging me to shoot again just so he could prove he was better, which I was actually fully aware of. I took it again and groaned. I notched an arrow in it and let out a long breath. Right before I was about to release, I felt Longshot hand on my shoulder. He gently pushed down, forcing me to relax. I nod tersely and focused in on the tree I was aiming at.

Next, I felt his hand gently nudge my left elbow. I lifted it a bit and nodded again. Then, I felt his entire body come up against mine, and his arms matching mine perfectly. I felt my face grow hot as I bit my bottom lip. I let out a soft, shaky breath and tightened my grip on the bow. I released, and the arrow landed in the exact spot that the last two had been.

I turned around and smiled at Longshot, who was once again pulling his hat down in front of his eyes. I grinned and shook my head. "Thanks for that," I said.

He grinned back. _Anytime._

"Where'd you go?" I turned my head, tugged myself back in to reality, and stared at the bushy haired girl.

"Oh…what?" I asked, confused.

Smellerbee groaned impatiently. "I said," she sighed. "'Where'd you go?' With Longshot, I mean."

"Oh, you say that?" I ask awkwardly.

"Well, yeah," she replied. "I saw you two up on that rooftop." She grinned at me mischievously. "You were…what was it my mom and dad used to call it? Um…flirting?"

"What?" I said loudly, my eyes widening. "Flirting? Oh, gods, no! Never!" I shook my head. "Ugh, no. Not at all."

"I know you're lying," she said, pointing a finger at me teasingly. I pushed it out of my face and smirked.


End file.
